Withdrawing the right to drive from people with serious and diagnosed mental health disorders, an idea raised on Tuesday by a minister of the Legault government, would have no effect in preventing tragedies like that of Amqui. It would also be a discriminatory measure, believe several experts, who are instead calling for an improvement in the care offered to them.
The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, startled more than one Tuesday morning when he spoke in an interview with All one morning, on ICI Première, the idea of withdrawing driving licenses from people suffering from serious mental health problems. He made this proposal in the wake of the tragedy that occurred Monday in Amqui, where the driver of a van hit many pedestrians, killing two people in addition to seriously injuring nine others.
“I’m thinking out loud, but if these people have [troubles de] mental health, have problems X, was the follow-up done well by the doctors? And afterwards, can these people obtain a driver’s license? asked the minister. He then insisted on the importance of “looking into” the tragedy that occurred in Amqui “to see how we can prevent that”.
The Minister then resumed, later in the day, by ensuring that the idea of suspending the driving license of certain people was not studied by the government.
François Bonnardel’s statement nevertheless prompted several experts to react, who stressed the importance of not stigmatizing people with diagnosed mental health disorders. “How can we say that when, ultimately, everyone in our society has experienced mental health at one time or another in their life, without having a precise diagnosis? exclaimed to the Duty Professor Marie-Chantal Doucet, from the School of Social Work at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Such a restriction on access to driving licenses would also be “discriminatory”, she adds.
The car as a weapon
The expert recognizes, however, that vehicles can “become a weapon” – as was also seen last month in Laval, when a bus driver crashed into a daycare centre, killing two children and injuring six others. . In the summer of 2021, the driver of a vehicle drove into members of a Muslim family walking on a sidewalk in London, Ontario, killing four people.
“It makes you wonder if there is not a phenomenon of contagion”, launches the president of the Order of social workers and marital and family therapists of Quebec, Pierre-Paul Malenfant, who underlines the importance to better tackle “the distress of men”. “Men often tend to take action, to act. It’s not a mental health problem, but more of a social problem,” explains Mr. Malenfant.
“It is a fact that currently, there is such rage among some that their vehicle becomes a weapon”, also indicates Mme Sweet. “But to go from there to saying that we are going to take people’s permits away is a huge intervention”, continues the one who proposes instead that we invest more in the accessibility of mental health care, in particular to support people who live in “loneliness” and who are too often “left to themselves to go through the various trials of life”.
The president of the Order of Psychologists of Quebec, Christine Grou, recalls for her part that it is “very rare that people who suffer from serious mental disorders will present risks of dangerousness”. “They are much more often the victims than the aggressors,” she recalls. It is still unclear whether Steeve Gagnon, the alleged perpetrator of the Amqui drama, is suffering from such diagnosed disorders.
Suspending the driver’s license of people with mental health problems could contribute to the isolation of many of them, especially outside major centers, notes Mr. Malenfant. In rural areas, “the car is autonomy,” he recalls. “So we cannot say that people [ayant des problèmes] mental health, we will check whether they can drive or not. »
” Fundamental rights “
Suspending the driver’s license of people with mental health problems would thus interfere with their “fundamental rights”, in addition to having a questionable effect on public safety, continues Ms.me Group. “If a disorganized person finds the keys to a car, it’s not whether they have a license or not that will prevent them from taking it. »
Christine Grou thus also notes the importance of improving the accessibility of care, but also of offering better “continuity” of services “to prevent the state of mental health of some from deteriorating” after reception punctual help, without follow-up. “We have our work cut out for us,” she sums up.
“There is a lot of loneliness experienced by people and they eventually become angry with others”, which can lead to tragedies like the one in Amqui, hence the importance of better supporting people who need help , also supports Marie-Chantal Doucet. “We always say it’s an isolated case, but at some point, are we going to wait for it to become an epidemic? »
In a press scrum on Tuesday, the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, also recalled that psychological distress “has increased with the pandemic”, in particular because of the isolation it has generated. “Can that explain acts like that?” I don’t think we can make a direct link,” continued Mr. Carmant, who urged people in need of support to “ask for help.”
With Francois Carabin