Supportive housing is needed for people with serious mental health problems, two witnesses argued Monday at the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of police officer Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard.
The latter, in crisis, killed the Sûreté du Québec police officer when she went to his home to arrest him in March 2023, in Louiseville. The 35-year-old man had been found not criminally responsible for criminal offenses on more than one occasion due to his mental health problems, had already attacked people in the past and had been hospitalized in a psychiatric ward more than once. times. When he fatally attacked the policewoman with a knife, he was living alone in a former hotel converted into a rooming house. He was shot dead on the spot by the police.
Coroner Géhane Kamel has been holding public hearings into the deaths of these two people at the Trois-Rivières courthouse since February 12. At the heart of his investigation is the quality of the interventions of the police and the health system with people living with mental disorders, for their well-being but also for the protection of the public.
On Monday, Michael Arruda, a retired police officer from the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) and crisis intervention specialist, testified.
He advocated for the creation of supportive housing because he believes that some people living with serious mental health disorders need support.
The coroner agreed, highlighting the work of community organizations that accommodate such people, such as the Center l’Entre-Toit, whose mission is the stabilization and social reintegration of people struggling with dual problems of mental health and trouble with the law or drug addiction. Isaac Brouillard Lessard had stayed there, which had a beneficial effect on him.
They do a lot, with few resources, Coroner Kamel stressed on Monday.
Mr. Arruda added that public safety should not only be the concern of the police and that such organizations are able to effectively supervise their residents.
At the time of the tragedy, Mr. Brouillard Lessard was living alone in an apartment in a “very low-end” building whose residents live in poverty, the director general of the city of Louiseville had described earlier in the day, Mr. Yvon Douville.
The concentration of people living with consumption and mental health problems in the same place, without supervision, can create many problems, he told the coroner.
He therefore recommended improving housing in Quebec as a means “to prevent mental and behavioral instabilities”. This requires supervision and guidance, believes the general director.
As for Mr. Arruda, he also recommended having a person responsible for “carrying” the mental health file in Quebec, because according to him, no one takes it seriously, he said. He also advocates the creation of an interministerial committee, because mental health is the responsibility of several ministries such as justice, public security and health, he believes.