The directorate of youth protection (DPJ) intervened on Wednesday in a day camp in Saint-Hippolyte, in the Laurentians, “on the basis of reported elements”. The camp management as well as parents denounce a sudden intervention that shocked the children.
Posted yesterday at 6:09 p.m.
Hiboux des jeunes is a non-profit organization that operates a day camp and vacation camp for young people with or without special needs, as well as an emergency shelter.
According to Dave Allaire, director general of the organization, the workers from the DPJ arrived at the camp on Wednesday with agents from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) around 3:20 p.m. They immediately asked for the contact details of the parents, whom they called to pick up their children.
My educators could no longer speak to any child, the children were in tears and did not understand what was happening.
Dave Allaire, Executive Director of Hiboux des jeunes
Mr. Allaire was however at the La Ronde amusement park in Montreal at the time with about thirty young people, while a hundred others were at the camp.
Neither he nor the parents with whom The Press interviewed could not find out what explained the presence of the DPJ. “For the sake of confidentiality, the reasons for the investigation cannot be revealed,” says Valérie Maynard, spokesperson for the Laurentides Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS). The SQ did not comment, referring us to the DPJ.
The initial message, according to Mr. Allaire and the parents with whom The Press was that the camp was closing and that the parents had to pick up their children immediately, whether they were at the camp or at La Ronde. The DPJ says, however, that the parents “were invited to withdraw their child from the camp”, but that this was only a “recommendation”.
“It was really disproportionate as an intervention,” protests Jessica Dumas-Beaulieu, mother of two children who attend the camp, one of whom has special needs. “This camp has worked miracles for my child,” she says from the outset.me Dumas-Beaulieu deplores the lack of transparency and the contradictory communications of the DPJ.
Same story with Alina Carlat, who was called around 7 p.m. to pick up her son at La Ronde without further explanation. “Thanks to Hiboux des jeunes, I brought back a smile to my son’s face,” she says.
The group that had gone to La Ronde returned by bus late in the evening after watching the fireworks. The young people were initially supposed to spend the night at the camp, but the parents had to pick them up immediately at the request of the DPJ. “They checked all of our buildings to see if we had a child on the site yet,” Allaire said.
Temporary closure
The camp remained closed Thursday and Friday, according to the information given by the DPJ during the intervention. It must however reopen on Monday, the parents and the camp having learned that in fact, the DPJ had not ordered the closure.
Despite the recommendation of the DYP, Mme Carlat is still considering sending his son to camp on Monday. “I think he’s going to be very happy” to be able to go back, she said.
“An investigation is underway to verify the alleged facts,” said Mr.me Maynard, from the CISSS.