A “horrible” story. A system “failing in every respect”. Liberal MP Brigitte Garceau does not mince her words in reaction to a file of The Press on a disturbing case of a child from the DPJ. The official opposition is calling for an investigation into the detention of this 11-year-old girl and criticizes the Legault government for delaying appointing a commissioner for children’s rights.
“We need a watchdog to be the voice of children. We find ourselves in a situation where the rights of children are violated. In Quebec, we must do something to protect our children,” said Brigitte Garceau, spokesperson for the official opposition for youth protection, in an interview.
The Laurent commission (which stems from the death of the little girl from Granby) recommended in 2021 to create a position of commissioner for the well-being and rights of children. However, the position has still not been created.
In a file published Tuesday, The Press highlighted the case of Eve, a particularly explosive little girl taken into the care of youth protection. Under the custody of the DPJ, Ève was sexually assaulted by another young person and found herself in a police station cell at just 11 years old.
“How many Eves are there in our system? », asks MP Brigitte Garceau.
“When we look at the story of Eve, a girl of 10, 11 years old. We see that it took more than 1 year to have psychological follow-up following a sexual assault which was trivialized by the DPJ, and which was not taken seriously. That’s what caught my attention. It is the lack of action and the fact of trivializing the consequences of an act of violence against a young girl,” maintains the spokesperson for the official opposition.
Last February, Ève was detained for 45 minutes in a cell at a Saint-Jérôme police station after running away from her DPJ workers. The police placed him in a cell while waiting for the DPJ to come and collect him. A decision which outraged Professor Alain Roy, a reference in children’s law.
“I completely share his feelings,” comments M.me Garceau. We read that. And we are speechless. Because the situation is horrible. We can’t even imagine that it was done like this. Everything she has experienced over the past year is unimaginable. »
The government should therefore launch an investigation to shed light on the detention of this child, according to Mme Garceau.
In our case, Eve’s parents say they are distraught by the system and wonder what to do to have the hope of getting their daughters back. They criticize the DPJ for not offering them help for this purpose. They only see Eve once a week, under supervision.
“These are extremely difficult conditions for the resumption of the parent-child relationship. Our system must change. Our system must prioritize the interests of children. At the moment, that’s not what we’re doing,” maintains the Liberal MP.