This is how Simon Houle’s sentence will most likely unfold. Given his job as an “engineer”, his future good behavior (his hands only seem to be interested in women’s bodies) and the current functioning of parole, he will certainly be released before the end of his sentence of a year. Some people who have never participated in demonstrations against the trivialization of sexual assault claim “victory”, believing that this judgment “comes to reassure the confidence of the public, which had been shaken by this affair”. Before speaking for us and claiming that “it gives hope”, we should perhaps begin by understanding that the case of Simon Houle is far from being an “isolated case”.
Pleading guilty in 1999 to the sexual assault of a 19-year-old young woman, Gilbert Rozon obtained an absolute discharge because his lawyer had argued that his client had to work in the United States for his company (Juste pour rire) and that he couldn’t travel if he had a criminal record. Since the “Rozon judgment”, several aggressors have been able to benefit from it without any form of specialized therapy to reduce the risk of recidivism being required (which would have offered them real “rehabilitation”) or even without being deprived of travel, which would allow them to potentially commit attacks internationally, outside our country.
However, for certain types of aggressors, getting out of the system with a little slap on the wrist — this famous “second chance” — leads them to imagine themselves below everything (even the laws!) and to start all over again. . The subsequent victims are often paralyzed at the idea of denouncing them, because they feel betrayed from the outset by a system that has failed to prevent this violence from now being exercised on them.
What is exceptional in the case of Simon Houle is the social mobilization that took place following the judgment of Judge Poliquin (who was, moreover, cleared by the judiciary). Although the “correction” imposed by the Court of Appeal in the Poliquin case demonstrates that it is indeed the right vehicle for “repairing a poorly reasoned judgment”, the fact that the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec dismissed all the complaints received against Matthieu Poliquin in no way helps citizens to understand the workings of the system or to “rebuild” their confidence in it.
A culture to change
The confusion remains, and it is a serious attack on the very foundations of our democracy since the gap between society and our democratic institutions is widening from one blunder to the next. Our legal culture, case law and centuries of myths, prejudices and preconceived ideas unfavorable to victims color the actions (as well as the decisions) of the actors of the system on a daily basis. These are political, colonial and imperial violence, because even elected officials do not have the courage or the capacity to legislate on the matter. Police officers, prosecutors and judges enjoy protections that make them almost untouchable in the exercise of their profession. We remain subjects of the British Crown and prisoners of our own Constitution, whether we like it or not.
If individually certain police officers, prosecutors, lawyers and judges do an outstanding job, the fact is that they do not have much latitude to transform durably the problems which arise from the very “structure” of their professions. They can only “repair” piecemeal, “specialized court” or not.
What worries me the most are all the cases that are not publicized and that also concern other areas of law. Whether it’s because judges – since the Poliquin case – decide to deliver judgments “under seal” favorable to the many aggressors openly crusading against the #MeToo movement, or the “out of court” who take themselves to mediation ( and other confidentiality agreements), as seen with Hockey Canada. When we know about the “squabble” that persists between the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice, we know that we are not out of the woods.
The legislator “erred” by entering the flower beds of judicial independence and “Justice” (which had already provided for the “access division”) with his cavalier vision of what the administration of the justice and “access to justice”. Rather than see the foundation of a new area of law, as has been claimed for years by the #MeToo movement in Quebec, we have remained with the same old system, but with 2.0 packaging just in time for the latest elections. Rationally — if we are truly united against rape culture — we should be concerned about the sexual violence that takes place in prison (both by guards and fellow prisoners), which to this day remains largely under-documented.
Fully embrace transformative justice
When we know the extent and seriousness of judicial violence against victims who denounce their aggressor, filing a complaint through “official” channels should no longer be a “social guarantee” of the sincerity of whistleblowers. It is time to reflect on the real fallout from this costly institution (police, prosecutors, 75% state-funded lawyers, judges) and take advantage of the fact that it is at breaking point to reallocate funds to where more 95% of victims genuinely turn to their communities (whether local, cultural or online). It is a struggle that may seem ambitious, but it has already been won in the past.
Indeed, politicians, journalists, bishops were unanimously opposed to women’s right to vote. Lawyers, above all, opposed it. For them, the right to vote was irreconcilable with the Civil Code in force in Quebec, according to which women were considered incapable before the law. Another example: Quebec women were at the mercy of the Civil Code until 1964, because it placed them in a state of economic and social dependence on their husbands. Abolish the legal subordination of wives was considered until then as a “legal absurdity”. Women have been organizing, fighting and resisting for a long time.
At all times, they have always been told that they go too far and exaggerate in their claims. They were asking for the impossible. And each time, they triumphed. I therefore have confidence in the fact that we are witnessing a historic moment and that it is only a matter of time before the Criminal Code adapts to all the complexity associated with the issue of sexual violence. That other laws will follow and that others, discriminatory in their essence, will be repealed. Inspired by the Afro-descendant civil rights movements and indigenous knowledge, transformative justice would also be meaningful and a source of innovation.
More than ever, it’s time to strike a balance. To meet with groups that bring this experiential expertise and fully integrate them into the discussions, as was done with the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, which Quebec still refuses to sign. Repair the mistakes of the past and aim for a real transformation of our society. We owe it to future generations so that one day, none of us will need to say #MeToo to be seen and heard.