PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
How many cases escape the vigilance of the DYP? Impossible to say.
The “girl from Granby” has not said her last word. On Monday, the lawyer who represents the biological mother and the paternal grandparents of the child who died in April 2019, Me Valérie Assouline, has filed a civil lawsuit for $3.7 million against the Val-des-Cerfs school services center, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie and a department head of the youth (DPJ) and three workers.
Posted yesterday at 5:00 a.m.
This type of lawsuit is infrequent and rarely successful. First, because vulnerable families are not equipped to take such legal steps. But above all, because the DPJ enjoys almost total immunity. Indeed, article 35 of the Youth Protection Act specifies that the director and the representatives of the DYP “cannot be prosecuted for acts performed in good faith in the exercise of their functions”.
It is this principle of impunity that the prosecution calls into question.
How is it that no one is accountable when the system goes wrong, when bureaucracy takes precedence over humanity? The bad faith of the system is very difficult to demonstrate.
However, the DYP should be held responsible when it abandons the children who are under its responsibility to their fate. It should not hide behind bureaucracy.
Bill 15, adopted in the wake of the report of the Laurent commission, reiterated the importance of placing the interests of the child first. It must take precedence over the rest.
On behalf of the children that society is supposed to protect, we must therefore partially review the immunity enjoyed by the DYP.
This is what the lawyer Sophie Papillon, specialist in youth law, supports among others. According to her, immunity is justified when it comes to the delicate decisions that the DPJ must take on a daily basis. On the other hand, when it comes to the application of Youth Court orders – visits to the living environment, family follow-up, child custody, etc. –, this immunity should be restricted. In other words, the DYP should be accountable when it does not properly fulfill the mandate entrusted to it by the courts.
True, the staff shortage affects the DYP as it affects all health and social services sectors. Waiting lists are getting longer. How many cases escape their vigilance? Impossible to say. But these waiting lists should force the government to review the working conditions of its employees, not to justify the unjustifiable. There is an urgent need to act when the safety of children is at stake.
The pursuit of M.e Assouline also brings to the public square one of the key recommendations of the Laurent commission, namely the creation of a position of Commissioner for the well-being and rights of children. Appointed by the National Assembly for a seven-year term, this person would be supported by an assistant commissioner whose task would be to ensure the well-being of Aboriginal children. The commissioner would have powers of investigation and recommendation in the same way as the Québec Ombudsman.
The next responsible minister, whether Lionel Carmant or one of his colleagues, must make this dossier a priority. A commissioner should be appointed within the first 100 days of the new mandate of the Legault government.
Because on the ground, the living conditions of young people under the responsibility of the DPJ are deplorable. This was noted by journalist Nancy Audet, who is also godmother of the Youth Foundation of the DPJ. In his most recent book, They are all called CourageMme Audet describes, among other things, the living conditions in the youth centres: lack of space, leaking ceilings, faulty showers, damaged furniture, mold on the walls… Intolerable conditions unworthy of living environments supervised by the State.
At a time when seniors’ homes are being built with millions of dollars, it is time to question the environments we offer young people, environments that can have a decisive impact on their development and on their subsequent journey.
No, the little girl from Granby has not said her last word. Reading the wording of the lawsuit filed Monday by Mr.e Assouline, as difficult as she is, is important. She reminds us of the ordeal experienced by this child in distress and the shortcomings of a system supposed to protect her. It is in a way the voice of all vulnerable children who implore us not to let them down.