The Department of Youth Protection (DPJ) was given formal notice for the sum of 2 million dollars by the mother of Olivier and Alex, who died in October 2020, for having failed to protect the two children.
Michaël Chicoine was charged with their second degree murder, committed in Wendake, in the Quebec region. His criminal trial will begin in September.
The mother of the two little victims, Émilie Arsenault, had made three reports to the DPJ which had not been retained, can we read in the formal notice.
About eight months after the third report, five-year-old Olivier and two-year-old Alex died tragically.
This would not have happened if the DPJ (Centre jeunesse de Québec), which reports to the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, had done its work “diligently and benevolently”, is it alleged in the letter sent Friday.
Because during the two years preceding the death of the boys, “several risk factors were present and should have been identified by the DPJ” in order to avoid this tragedy.
The DPJ is also criticized for the delays in processing the three reports involving the Chicoine children who “far exceeded the acceptable standards for the RTS service (reception and processing of reports), which should have acted quickly and responsibly in the three working days following receipt of the said reports regarding the alleged facts. »
The CIUSSS has an obligation to ensure that services are offered adequately and in a timely manner to the population.
The Ministry of Health, which is also targeted by the formal notice, is responsible for properly overseeing the CIUSSS. Moreover, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, was “well aware of the many shortcomings of the child protection system, particularly following the tragedy of the little girl from Granby that occurred in April 2019”, it is written.
It was also the responsibility of Minister Carmant to take all the necessary measures urgently, in order to adequately protect the children covered by the Youth Protection Act, he is accused of. The ministry has failed in its duties, writes the mother’s lawyer, Ms.and Valerie Assouline.
She reproaches him for his gross negligence which cost the lives of two children, and caused untold suffering to his client.
These serious faults cannot remain without compensation, she writes, demanding as damages for the harm caused the sum of 2 million dollars to the CIUSSS (and therefore to the DPJ) and to the Ministry of Health. The latter have 10 days to send a check, otherwise the lawyer indicates that she will take legal action.