(Quebec ) While Bill 15 on the reform of the Youth Protection Act is criticized for not going far enough, the Early Childhood Collective announces the forthcoming creation of a public committee to follow up on the recommendations of the Laurent Commission.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
” Since [le drame de la fillette de] Granby and with the Laurent commission, it is important that there is a mode of monitoring which comes from the public and which is not only governmental”, explains Camil Bouchard, doctor in psychology and author of the report A Quebec crazy about its children. “There is always this idea that we move on. There’s like a responsibility around that that we have to share, ”he adds.
The latter is part of the constitutive committee which will have to select the organizations and stakeholders who will form the follow-up committee for the recommendations of the Special Commission on Children’s Rights and Youth Protection, known as the Laurent Commission.
The Early Childhood Collective took the initiative to create this constituent committee to ensure that the monitoring committee “is equipped with the most relevant expertise and knowledge in order to take a critical and objective look at the state of progress of the 65 recommendations and more than 250 courses of action” of the report of the Laurent commission, tabled in May 2021.
“Our concern was at the level of the clear timetable that we did not find through the implementation plan [du gouvernement] explains the director of the Early Childhood Collective, Élise Bonneville. “To have a committee that, beyond the political cycles, stays the course, that keeps a critical eye on the implementation of the recommendations, that seems essential to us,” she continues in an interview.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Camil Bouchard is part of the founding committee that will select the organizations and stakeholders who will form the monitoring committee.
Regardless of the political teams that will be in power, there must be people in the population who are on the lookout and attentive to what is happening.
Camil Bouchard, author of the report A Quebec crazy about its children
By the admission of former president Régine Laurent, the “construction site” resulting from her report can span six to ten years.
In addition, five former commissioners of the Laurent commission, including the former vice-president, André Lebon, have agreed to act as advisors for both the work of the founding committee and that of the public follow-up committee. In a long interview with The Press last week, André Lebon emptied his heart about the situation at the directorate of youth protection (DPJ).
He pointed to an “extremely vague” follow-up plan for the recommendations and said he feared that the report would be shelved. Minister Lionel Carmant said he was “incredulous” at this tough outing.
Initiative hailed by Carmant
On Monday, the Minister for Health and Social Services welcomed the creation of a public monitoring committee. “Anything that can and should be done in the interests of children is welcome. And as I have said many times, youth protection is the business of all Quebecers! “wrote Minister Carmant in a statement sent to The Press. He reiterated that the report will not end up on a tablet.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Lionel Carmant, Minister Delegate for Health and Social Services
The monitoring committee must be formed in mid-March.
This announcement comes as parliamentarians begin Tuesday the detailed study of Bill 15, which aims to place the interests of the child at the heart of the reform of the Youth Protection Act. During the consultations, several speakers, including the former president of the commission, Régine Laurent, affirmed that the legislative text did not go far enough to achieve this.
On Tuesday, organizations fighting against domestic violence will hold a press conference to denounce Minister Carmant’s “lack of consideration of domestic violence in the bill”. “Amendments are needed to define domestic violence, to frame intervention in youth protection in these contexts, and to ensure consistency between the different areas of law,” it says.
Minister Carmant has already confirmed that he will make changes to the bill so that the interest of the child becomes the main consideration of the legislative text.