(Québec) Marwah Rizqy ne mâche pas ses mots : « le climat ne va pas bien » à l’école Saint-Laurent, à Montréal, où trois entraîneurs de basketball ont été accusés il y a deux mois de crimes sexuels. Des témoins qui ont des informations à partager appellent la députée, car ils ignorent qui est responsable du dossier. Cette situation, dit-elle, est inacceptable. « Ça commande une vraie enquête ».
Publié à 10h14
La Presse révélait mercredi que des enseignants de l’école Saint-Laurent se disent « découragés » face à la progression de l’enquête. Vendredi dernier, lors d’une rencontre entre des représentants du centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSSMB) et le personnel scolaire, le directeur de l’école, René Bernier, aurait affirmé qu’il ne savait pas comment parler à la personne responsable du dossier. Philippe Côté, l’enquêteur responsable du dossier au ministère de l’Éducation, aurait depuis pris contact avec le syndicat afin qu’un appel à tous les enseignants soit fait.
Dans une mêlée de presse chargée d’émotions mercredi, le trémolo dans la voix, Mme Rizqy a sévèrement critiqué la façon dont Québec s’est chargé de l’enquête depuis le début de cette affaire. Elle exige une enquête indépendante.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Marwah Rizqy
« Ça ne peut pas être un fonctionnaire de Québec, dans son coin, qui attend que le téléphone sonne. Ça fait des semaines que j’ai des parents, j’ai des élèves, j’ai des enseignants, du personnel scolaire qui m’appellent en sortant de l’école pour me dire que ça ne va pas bien à l’école Saint-Laurent. Le climat ne va pas bien. Quelqu’un m’a écrit que le bordel est pris. Ils veulent savoir qui est l’enquêteur au dossier », dit-elle.
Le ministère de l’Éducation a affirmé mercredi à La Presse qu’il existe deux façons de participer à l’enquête. Il est d’abord possible de « solliciter un entretien » avec l’enquêteur Philippe Côté, en écrivant directement à [email protected], ou encore en remplissant un formulaire de manière anonyme.
« Honnêtement, c’est tellement laconique, c’est une réponse de technocrate. Les allégations [sont à l’effet qu’ils se seraient] past the victim. […] These are such serious and troubling allegations. What has happened in the two months since the arrests? “, denounces Marwah Rizqy.
An independent investigation
The member for Saint-Laurent demands that the investigation be transferred to a firm specializing in cases of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. “I have nothing against Mr. Côté, but I doubt that the Ministry of Education has the necessary independence to investigate on its own, or that the ministry has already managed such a dramatic situation”, affirms- she.
“When there is a fire somewhere, what do the insurance companies do? They send the investigator, a claims adjuster who is dispatched to the scene, who says here is my business card, here is what we are going to do, you can talk to me, I am looking for witnesses. He is not sitting in his office in Quebec, more than 280 kilometers from Saint-Laurent, ”adds the MP.
Mme Rizqy also claimed that “coaches from other schools want to talk” and that “there are some who have seen unacceptable behavior”.
“I’ll tell you why it troubles me. Myself, I played basketball and the profile of the victims, do you know what it is? Girls from underprivileged ethnic backgrounds. […] Predators, make no mistake, choose their victims. It didn’t last a year, it didn’t last two years, we’re talking years! We are talking about a toxic climate, a climate where people don’t even dare to speak anymore, ”she adds.
With Henri Ouellette-Vézina and Alice Girard-Bossé
The Saint-Laurent school affair in a few dates
- February 2, 2022: Three basketball coaches from Saint-Laurent high school in Montreal, suspected of crimes of a sexual nature against two minors, are arrested.
- February 3: The three coaches are accused of various sex crimes. Daniel Lacasse, manager of Saint-Laurent’s basketball program, is accused of sexual exploitation. The other two coaches, Robert Luu and Charles-Xavier Boislard, face charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and sexual assault. Mr. Boislard is also accused of sexual exploitation.
- February 4: The Press reports a “super harmful” climate, marked by verbal aggression and intimidation, which reigned within the women’s basketball program.
- February 7: A coalition of organizations calls for the “rapid and urgent” adoption of a bill to “prevent and combat” sexual violence in schools. The Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service center (CSSMB) announced the same day the opening of an investigation, which it finally abandoned a few weeks later.
- February 8: The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, launches a government inquiry into the case of the Saint-Laurent school. Shortly after, the Minister for Education, Isabelle Charest, announced the opening of an investigation into the “way” in which Basketball Quebec handled the situation.
- February 9: The Ministry of Education ensures that on that day, a letter from the Director of Investigations was sent to the Director General of the CSSMB, Dominic Bertrand, to “announce the holding of the investigation”.
- February 23: The Liberal MP for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy, asks Quebec to “suspend with pay”, while the government conducts its investigation, “current members and former members of the management implicated in the allegations of sexual and psychological abuse” at Saint-Laurent High School.
- March 2: The Press reports that a group of former basketball players have set up the Coalition of Big Sisters in Sport. Its mission: to put an end to the “culture of silence” that reigns in sport, in the wake of the Saint-Laurent affair.
- March 24: A dozen women gather at the Montreal courthouse, on the sidelines of a hearing in anticipation of the trial of the accused, to support the victims of sexual violence.