(Quebec) The Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel evokes the possibility of suspending the driver’s license of certain people who are diagnosed with a mental health disorder to protect the population against cases of “murderous madness”, such as the one that took place in Amqui on Monday.
“There is a gesture, I think aloud, if these people have mental health disorders, the follow-up has been done well by the doctors? And afterwards, can these people obtain a driver’s license? “, he launched in an interview with Radio-Canada in the morning.
“You have to look at it coldly. […] Is this something doable? Faced with an X diagnosis, is it something we can do to protect [la population] ? “said Mr. Bonnardel.
“I don’t want to go too far in my thinking, but when you have a vehicle in your hands, you know, whether you’re under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication X which can cause trouble and lead this case of madness as we have seen [lundi]problem assuming it’s due to this. […] it may be necessary to look into certain situations to see how, in what way we can prevent this, ”he explained.
Premeditated
According to the police, the gesture would be premeditated and the victims were chosen at random. “They were pedestrians walking on the edge of the 132 on both sides of the road, for a certain distance,” said Sergeant Claude Doiron, spokesman for the SQ.
Minister Bonnardel drew a parallel between Monday’s attack and “the ram bus in Laval that killed children.” “We will have to do an exercise afterwards to try to understand, and to try to reassure the population. I’m still worried about two cases like this, [lundi] and Laval,” he said.
He also questioned whether the pandemic has “exacerbated” mental health cases. ” I think so. I don’t want to say it’s the fault of the pandemic, but it looks like it has exacerbated several cases,” he said.
As for the suspension of the license, Mr. Bonnardel remains cautious. “Could this particular case lead us to this kind of reflection? But it is premature to expose this publicly. […] My first question is why did this person have a permit? “, he said.