Bridge to be named in honour of fallen police officer

BY LAUREL MYERS

The Greater Sudbury Police Service is continuing to pay tribute to fallen officers from their service by naming area bridges in their honour.

“This community has sadly dedicated two bridges to fallen officers,” said Chief of Police Ian Davidson.

The two bridges were dedicated in honour of Greater Sudbury Police officers killed in the line of duty – Sgt. Rick McDonald, 37, was killed July 28, 1999,  and Const. Joe McDonald, 29, was killed Oct. 7, 1993.

The third bridge will be dedicated to Const. Albert J. Nault, who was killed shortly after midnight on Dec. 21, 1931, while conducting property checks of the CNR freight sheds in Sudbury. Within a short time after his arrival, the 35-year-old officer was found shot to death near the freight sheds.

The murder remains unsolved and his revolver was never recovered. He left behind a wife and four children.

The constable was the first officer with the Greater Sudbury Police Service to be killed in the line of duty. Following in his father’s footsteps, Nault’s son, the late Deputy Chief George Nault retired from the Greater Sudbury Police Service in 1987 after serving the community for 37 years.

The proposed bridge is the Highway 17 bridge over the CP Rail tracks on the Sudbury southeast bypass, near Coniston.

The request to have the bridge named after Nault has already received the support of city council, as well as provincial MP France Gelinas. At their September police board meeting, board members unanimously passed a motion to provide their support to the initiative as well. “It’s a simple motion and a well-deserved one,” said Davidson. “Once the decision is made, a ceremony will be held.”

The request will be processed through the legislative system, in accordance with the Ontario Highway Memorials for Fallen Police Officers Act. The act was passed in 2002 through a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci.