Hon. Gwen Boniface: Honourable senators, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today, once again. The grief in the Ontario Provincial Police is unbearable. There are simply no words to describe how this tragedy affects everyone in the service, in the little community of Bourget and across eastern Ontario.

Last Thursday, three officers were shot following a call to a residence in the rural community of Bourget, just 50 kilometres from here. Sergeant Eric Mueller was killed. The two other officers were hospitalized, one of them with critical injuries.

Sergeant Eric Mueller was a 21-year veteran of the OPP, having served with the Offender Transport Unit for four years before becoming a provincial constable in 2006. I had the privilege of swearing in Eric in my final year as commissioner. Eric served in the Leeds County detachment before transferring to Russell County. He became a sergeant in 2018.

Let me tell you who he was. He was a fine young man and a deeply dedicated police officer. Seriously injured on duty in 2008, he fought hard to fulfill his desire to return to work as a police officer. Eric was a leader amongst the finest to his shift mates; to his community, he was seen as a gentleman; to his friends and colleagues, he was described as one of the finest, kindest and smartest officers they’ve had the chance to work with.

He was a brother, a husband, a son and a father. He did his job to the best of his ability — a natural in the service to others. In 2015, Sergeant Mueller received the Commissioner’s Citation for Lifesaving after he helped rescue an injured suspect who was trapped under a burning vehicle.

Tomorrow, officers and first responders will gather to honour him and his family here in Ottawa at 11 a.m.

Colleagues, please take a moment to think of the many mourners who will gather here in Ottawa, but especially of his family, his colleagues and his friends. Please join me in wishing the injured officers a full and speedy recovery. To the officers of Russell County, I want them to know we are with them.

This tragedy is impossible to make sense of. We have lost a talented police officer. A wife has lost her husband. Two young children have lost their father. May we forever remember the sacrifice he has made.

Thank you, meegwetch.