The Quebec government is defending Montreal police after officers opened fire and killed a knife-wielding homeless man and an innocent bystander, the latest in a string of shootings that has sparked criticism and protest.
Public Security Minister Robert Dutil says only 60 police officers - out of 15,000 across Quebec - ever fire a weapon in an average year.
"So it happened (with) only one of 200 policemen each year," Mr. Dutil told reporters in Quebec City.
"A police officer in his career is very unlikely to have fired a gun. What I'm trying to say is there's no pattern.
"I believe they're well-trained. I believe they're well equipped. I believe they do their best. Unfortunately, in a society like ours, this kind of thing happens. We wish it wouldn't."
Mr. Dutil says he's eagerly awaiting the results of an investigation by the provincial police.
He also says there may be changes to the procedure involving police investigations.
The government is awaiting a report into the 2008 police shooting of teenager Fredy Villanueva and may proceed with changes.
Quebec's current protocol is to have one police force investigate another whenever someone is injured in an operation. This model has been accused of lacking transparency and favouring the officer under investigation.
For instance, the Villanueva inquiry revealed that the protocol for interrogating police officers following a shooting was ignored.
The officers involved had ample opportunity to speak with each other before being interrogated - meaning they would, in theory, have had time to co-ordinate their stories.
Mr. Dutil said he's looking at Ontario's Special Investigations Unit as a potential model, although he says there are concerns with that system as well.
"It's also policemen making investigations on policemen," Mr. Dutil said of Ontario's system.
The downtown, daylight shootings have shocked many and angered some Montrealers.
An anti-police protest march is planned Wednesday night.
Others warn that this week's incident revealed broader problems - namely, the way our society deals with mental health.
The men's shelter that was home to the knife-wielding man, Mario Hamel, says it is underfunded and struggles to provide the care its residents need.
Hamel was spotted tossing trash around downtown streets, and reportedly used a knife to slice through garbage bags before police intervened.
Police say he had also threatened someone he knew before they arrived on the scene. Mr. Hamel was known to collect discarded cans to make money.
One report said police fired multiple shots - La Presse said about 10 were fired - and at least one bullet struck and killed a hospital worker.
One criminologist says that, while police in Canada are generally good at dealing with things like organized crime, there are real gaps in dealing with confrontations involving the mentally ill.
Michael Kempa, who specializes in police accountability, said officers are increasingly asked intervene in situations they're not trained to handle.
He said police lack skills in how to deal with things like mental-health issues and interpersonal disputes, even though they are asked to do it more and more.
"When you send people who have the wrong tools into those situations … they don't (know) anything else really to do other than use force," said Prof. Kempa, of the University of Ottawa's criminology department.
He laid some of the blame on the recent economic downturn, which has prompted cuts to police budgets in districts across North America.
Still, he said officers - young and old - don't reach for their sidearms as often as citizens think.
"Basically, the public greatly overestimates how often police officers use, or even draw, their weapons," he said, adding that most officers will go five or even 10 years without pulling out their firearms.
And a police bullet striking a bystander, as it did Tuesday, is so rare that Prof. Kempa couldn't recall the last time it happened in Canada.
"The chances are something along the lines of being hit by lightning - it's just that rare," Prof. Kempa said.
City officials expressed sadness at the incident but refused to comment, pending an investigation.
Police have also issued a statement expressing condolences but is refusing to say much more because of the ongoing investigation.