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Mayor Valérie Plante hailed the city’s new police chief Wednesday as a leader who will bring Montrealers together and restore confidence in the force.

And the fact he doesn’t speak English won’t be an impediment, she said.

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“He’s a very human person; he cares about citizens and the population,” Plante said to journalists after a ceremony at city hall where Sylvain Caron was signed in as Montreal’s 40th police chief.

“He understands that we need to move forward with those issues — making sure that every citizen counts, whoever you are, whatever you wear, whatever the colour of your skin or the language that you talk,” Plante said, standing next to Caron, a 36-year police veteran who recently retired from the Sûreté du Québec.

Responding to questions from anglophone journalists, Caron said, “Excuse me, I don’t speak English very well,” before switching to French.

The new chief said despite not speaking English, he would “do everything to get help — I will get someone to accompany me.”