The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse has opened an investigation into the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which made a dozen teenagers under its care sleep on the floor of a gymnasium for over nine months.
Posted at 12:38 p.m.
“Considering the nature and seriousness of the alleged information in the media, the Commission will investigate,” the body wrote in a press release on Wednesday. The organization has “reason to believe” that the rights of these minors have not been respected.
According to Radio-Canada, a dozen teenagers housed at the Center jeunesse La Maison de Rouyn-Noranda have been living in a gymnasium converted into a temporary living unit for more than nine months, without direct access to toilets or showers.
Young people have to sleep in tiny 8-by-5-foot “rooms”, closed by a curtain, and sleep on a mattress directly placed on the floor. They have no furniture to store their personal belongings. Teenagers do not have direct access to toilets or showers. They must be accompanied by a worker to go to “another unit” to relieve themselves. There is also no sink: they only have access to bottled water.
Worse than prisoners
Québec solidaire MNA Émilise Lessard-Therrien denounced this situation, which persists in her riding of Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue. “It’s not normal that we can’t find a more suitable living environment for these 12 young people. Prisoners don’t even have these conditions, and we impose that on teenagers for nine months. I can’t believe there was no alternative,” said M.me Lessard-Therrien at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Mme Therrien presented a motion to the National Assembly which “calls on the government to immediately take the appropriate measures to ensure a dignified living environment for these teenagers”. This motion was carried unanimously.
For its part, the Human Rights Commission explains that its investigation “aims to inquire into the veracity of the alleged facts and respect for the rights of young people” and wants to ensure “that measures are taken so that the situation will not happen again”. “The Commission recalls that the protection of children is everyone’s business in Quebec”, indicated the organization.
The Commission’s investigation will not be public, but it could “make systemic recommendations public”.