The head of the Sûreté du Québec has been temporarily suspended following an allegation he committed criminal offences.
Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault said Martin Prud'homme was removed from his duties today pending an investigation. She has named the police force's deputy director, Mario Bouchard, as his interim replacement.
Guilbault would not give details of the nature of the allegation or say when the offences are alleged to have occurred.
She says the investigation will be conducted by Quebec's police watchdog, the Bureau des enquetes indépendantes (BIE).
Guilbault says Prud'homme has not been arrested and benefits from the presumption of innocence.
Prud'homme recently returned to the provincial police after one year as interim chief of Montreal's police force. He was brought into that job in late 2017 to deal with the much-publicized internal chaos in that force.
CJAD 800's Richard Deschamps contributed to this report.