Quebec will reduce the number of hospitals responsible for monitoring people found not criminally responsible, promises the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, in particular in order to ensure an adequate assessment of dangerousness throughout the province.
“There are far too many hospitals involved in forensic psychiatry. We want to reduce the number and better train the workers,” responded Mr. Carmant.
By reducing the number of hospitals responsible for monitoring people not criminally responsible, Quebec intends to better train workers working with this type of patient.
An investigation of Duty revealed Wednesday that one in four people whose criminal record ended in a verdict of not criminally responsible were already known to the Mental Disorders Review Commission.
This is notably the case of Isaac Brouillard Lessard, who killed agent Maureen Breau of the Sûreté du Québec before being shot dead. The parents of the 35-year-old man, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder, had nevertheless alerted the authorities in the days preceding the tragedy. They suspected their son was experiencing psychosis and, given his violent history, feared he might pose a danger.
If it was able to slip through the cracks, it is in particular because of expertise and monitoring with variable geometry in the region, believe several experts consulted as part of our investigation. While 70% of the verdicts of not criminal responsibility handed down in 2023 were outside of Montreal, 11 regions have no forensic psychiatrist with in-depth expertise in this type of case. Furthermore, in Quebec there is no standardized tool for assessing patient risk.
Opposition parties have pressed the government to speed up the promised prioritization process. Quebec Solidaire (QS) MP Ruba Ghazal said she was worried about the situation and called on the government to act as quickly as possible. “It’s really worrying. Justice is a public service, and no matter where we live in Quebec, it is important that we have access to it. So, the CAQ government will have to look into this, and speed up the processes. Then, what I understand is that there is a plan for between now and 2027. He should do this more quickly,” she said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
PQ MP Pascal Bérubé, for his part, recalled the government’s responsibility in this matter. “The State has a responsibility to ensure that dangerous people are not at liberty or are supervised or receive care. […] There is a responsibility to put all resources into protecting the population and to protect people from themselves as well,” he said.