(Quebec) Minister François Bonnardel tabled on Thursday the “Maureen Breau” bill which will allow police officers to have access to the file of a person who has already been the subject of a verdict of not criminally responsible for cause mental disorders.
The Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel tabled Bill 66 on Thursday which aims to strengthen the monitoring of people subject to a verdict of not criminal responsibility due to mental disorders or unfitness to stand trial .
The legislative text provides that an organization in the health and social services sector, such as a hospital, will now be able to “communicate to a police force information that is necessary for its interventions with people who are the subject of a verdict not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder or unfitness to stand trial.”
The bill also plans to specify the mandate of “Correctional Services of the Ministry of Public Security with regard to such persons entrusted to them.”
The Legault government’s initiative responds to several elements raised in the wake of the death of Maureen Breau, this police officer who died on duty in March 2023. During an intervention, Isaac Brouillard Lessard seriously injured a patrol officer and fatally stabbed Sergeant Maureen Breau before being shot and killed by police in his apartment building.
The 35-year-old man had a long history of assault, a history of mental illness and his family had made several calls for help. The police had also intervened three days before the tragedy.
However, it was revealed during the coroner’s inquest that police officers were unaware that the man was being monitored by the Commission for the Examination of Mental Disorders (CETM), an otherwise little-known organization.
The government presents its legislative text before tabling the report from coroner Géhane Kamel who is leading a public inquiry into the death of the police officer in 2023. The hearings ended on March 21. His report is scheduled for the fall.
François Legault announced in mid-May, during his visit to the National Police Academy, his government’s intention to legislate to avoid the repetition of a tragedy like the murder of police officer Maureen Breau. The Prime Minister said he wanted to help the police during their interventions by allowing them to have access to information on the file of a person suffering from mental disorders and judged not criminally responsible for an act they committed.
“We were told that more needs to be done to provide information to the police, among other things about people who have been released and who have mental health problems. Obviously, we know that what happened in this case was someone who was known, who had reoffended a few times,” explained Mr. Legault.
The objective is to “give police officers more tools to better understand the situation of the people they are going to arrest”, so that “information circulates well between the police officers and the health network”.
With Tommy Chouinard and Mayssa Ferah