Quebec wishes to enshrine in law the primacy of “the best interests of the child” and to stop “spotting young people from one family to another”. The Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, tabled a bill on Wednesday to officially initiate his reform of the Directorate of Youth Protection (DPJ).
“We’re finally going to put the best interests of the child first. That means before the interest of the natural family and biological parents, ”summarized Prime Minister François Legault a few minutes after the presentation of the legislative measure at the Salon Bleu.
Quebec sees its Bill 15 as one of the stages in the reshaping of youth protection activities. “This is the first milestone of a great journey,” said Minister Carmant, presenting the three-phase timeline that he concocted.
Bill 15 comes nearly seven months after Régine Laurent tabled her thick report on the future of the DYP. It aims in particular to ensure that “the interests of the child are a primary consideration in the application” of the law, even before that of the parents or the biological family.
We will finally put the best interests of the child first. It means before the interest of the natural family and the biological parents.
“That does not mean that parents no longer have their role to play, quite the contrary,” Carmant said during a press briefing. However, and I strongly insist, the well-being of the child is what must be considered in the first place. Gone are the days when a child had to pay the price for a misinterpretation of the law. “
For the moment, the notion of primacy sine qua non does not appear in the Quebec legislative framework. The Youth Protection Act simply establishes that “the decisions […] have to be [prises] in the interests of the child ”. Lionel Carmant maintains that this little nuance will change everything.
“We said: yes, the best interests of the child are paramount, but we must always aim to return to the family. So, [le projet de loi] comes to clarify that, ”he said.
“Primacy”
Asked on Radio-Canada about the tabling of the bill on Wednesday evening, the former president of the Special Commission on the Rights of Children and Youth Protection, Régine Laurent, said she was more than satisfied with its first version. Its report also asked Quebec to put the best interests of the child at the forefront of the decisions of the DYP, she indicated.
“Everything must be done in the best interests of the child,” she reiterated on Wednesday.
According to the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ), adding a word to the law risks making all the difference. “This is an extremely important principle in the analysis of the law,” said the vice-president of the youth mandate of the CDPDJ, Suzanne Arpin. When the judges have to analyze certain articles, it becomes like an analysis grid. “
“Get out of the basement”
If adopted, Bill 15 would strengthen the powers of action of regional directors of youth protection and concretize the role of national director of the DYP. It would also facilitate the efficient transmission of confidential information on certain children in care. “What we are going to do is take the DPJ out of the basement,” said Minister Carmant during a press briefing in Quebec on Wednesday.
More than two years after the death of the “Granby girl”, Quebec believes it is giving itself the tools to avoid such tragedies. “What you see in these situations is really a lack of communication,” observed Mr. Carmant. So here, by changing the rules of confidentiality, what we are saying is that the life of a child is worth more than confidentiality or professional secrecy. “
“If we have information that can protect the life of a child, it must be shared with the DYP, then the DYP workers must be able to share it with the partners,” he said.
The tabling of Bill 15 is a direct consequence of the tragedy of the “Granby girl”, who died in 2019. This sordid event, which is currently the subject of legal hearings, had at the time served as a pretext for launch of the Laurent commission. We need “a before-Granby and an after-Granby”, then launched François Legault.