Commission to probe Quebec’s youth-protection network
“We have to change the system,” Legault says in wake of Granby child’s death
QUEBEC The government has announced the creation of an independent roaming commission to probe the state of the province’s youth-protection network.
Arguing on Thursday that Quebec needs to learn from its mistakes following the tragic death of a seven-year-old girl in Granby in April, Premier François Legault personally launched the operation to be tagged the special commission on the rights of children and youth protection or the Laurent Commission for short.
He has named respected former nurses’ union president Régine Laurent as chair of the commission, which will be made up of nine people, including five experts and representatives for the four political parties in the National Assembly.
The commission has 18 months to complete its work, which means a report is due by Nov. 30, 2020 — but Legault said if the job can be done sooner all the better.
In fact he urged the commission, which will be independent of the government, to release recommendations along the way to correct obvious faults in a system which has failed a few children in the last years sparking great emotional angst in all levels of Quebec society.
“The tragedy (in Granby) showed us the situation was unacceptable,” Legault said at a news conference in a Quebec City hotel. “Everyone in Quebec was shaken.
“The neighbours knew (about the child’s situation), people in the school knew. People in youth protection were aware there was a problem.
“We have to do something, we have to change the system. Yes, it’s too bad we had to suffer through what happened in Granby. That’s why I say, there will be a before and an after Granby.”
The commission’s mandate is sweeping with orders to examine all aspects of Quebec’s youth-protection network plus the role of the courts, social services and services provided by other partners such as schools.
Quebec’s youth-protection laws, which date back to 1979, will also be reviewed.
Sitting beside Legault for the news conference, the no-nonsense Laurent said she made her terms for taking on the task clear to the premier: She asked for a broad mandate and that the committee be allowed to call on experts because she personally doesn’t know the youth-protection system well.
Above all she insisted Legault guarantee her final report not wind up on the shelf, an assurance she says she obtained.
“I am determined to identify concrete solutions for our children,” Laurent said she enters the process with a will of iron. “To be sure that no more children, no child in distress falls through the cracks. I am here because I want things to change.”
She said the commission will not have time for partisan political games either. There have been suggestions that former Liberal health minister Gaétan Barrette be hauled in to justify cuts to the network under his watch.
“The commission is not there to put anyone on trial, in any way,” said Laurent, who is the past president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec.
The political representatives on the commission, Lise Lavallée for the Coalition Avenir Québec, Hélène David for the Liberal opposition, Sol Zanetti for Québec solidaire and Lorraine Richard for the Parti Québécois, rapidly swept away friction between their parties over the creation of the commission.
At one point the parties had even been squabbling about the name the commission should carry.
“Things were a little bit difficult at the start, to get this process moving, but we succeeded,” David said at the news conference.
Legault, who personally stepped in at the last minute to make the commission a go, said he too believes the commissioners will work together in the best interests of the children.
“We can’t afford to miss our shot,” Legault said.
“We want to make sure every child in Quebec is protected,” added junior health minister Lionel Carmant who has ministerial responsibility for youth protection.
The decision to proceed with a special commission followed an incident in April which rocked all of Quebec. The child, who had been followed for years by youth protection, was found tied up and in critical condition inside a home on April 29.
Her death soon after led to two arrests, a public coroner’s inquiry and the suspension of a youth-protection administrator in the Eastern Townships.
Two adults — identified by people close to the family as the girl’s father and his partner — were arrested before the child died.
To help Laurent wade through the red tape, the government added two vice chairs to the commission: André Lebon, who has advised the government before on reorganizing youth services In Laval and Nunavik and Michel Rivard, a social-affairs lawyer who has worked for Quebec’s administrative court.
It is not know how much the commission will cost. pauthier@postmedia.com twitter.com/philipauthier