Quebec creating a commissioner for children’s welfare

Quebec is responding to the key recommendation of the Laurent report by creating a commissioner for children’s welfare and rights. 

The independent position will be responsible for monitoring the state of children in Quebec and acting as their spokesperson.

Experts say it’s about time but more needs to be done.

“Hopefully the commissaire will be able to make changes, to make inquiries, to be neutral, to act quickly, to have a budget that is big enough so we can make changes,” said Maître Valérie Assouline, a Youth Protection attorney.

“We also need more judges. We need more judges in youth protection. We need to really put our children first and this is not what is happening.”

According to Quebec Youth Protection, almost 1 in 10 young people aged 0 to 17 were the subject of a call to youth protection.

Assouline has worked with families of children who have died at the hands of the system – and says a lot has to change.

“When there was a commissaire Laurent, Mr. Carmnt said that the DYP should be only the emergency cases. We shouldn’t have every case. Well, right now it’s not the case. I don’t believe that there’s a hundred thousand bad parents, parents that are making negligence in Quebec,” said Assouline.

“I believe that there’s a lot of parents that need help. They don’t get the help when they need and then they end up at the DYP.

 “And that’s unfortunate because if these families would be helped instead of being judged then maybe we would be with fewer children into the system.”

One of the new commissioner’s missions will be to analyze and report annually on the well-being of Quebec’s children, producing opinions and recommendations.

They will have to gather testimonies on an ongoing basis and report on them.

“I have many cases where I spend, I have sleepless nights. I’m worried about some children,” said Assouline. “We have to wait months before being heard by a judge and unfortunately it’s not going as fast as we want and there are still children that maybe that we may you know fail to help. It’s really sad.”

The Laurent commission and its recommendations came after the tragic death of a 7-year-old in Granby, Quebec in 2019 – she died at the hands of her father and stepmother – who had been followed by youth protection services.

A year later, 6-year-old Maelie from Montreal was stabbed to death by her mother.

Both families are suing Youth Protection services for negligence – failing to keep their children safe.

“When you have so much power you must have the responsibility that goes with that and we cannot always have dramas like that. It’s like well nobody’s responsible, it’s the system,” explained Assouline.

“No, people are responsible. The people that close the file, the fact that they were closed not once, not twice, four times is something to you know to acknowledge and there will need to be a consequence to that.”

Since a Bill must be passed to create this new position, hopes are that the new commissioner can take office as soon as possible, so as to be operational as early as 2025.