Slowness, inconsistency, lack of transparency: the follow-up committee of the Commission spéciale sur les droits des enfants et la protection de la jeunesse (CSDEPJ) is concerned about the government’s actions to better protect Quebec’s children.
This week marks the anniversary, five years ago, of the tragic death of the Granby girl. In the wake of this tragedy, which shook Quebec to its core, a special commission of experts chaired by Régine Laurent tabled a report containing some sixty recommendations aimed at preventing this kind of tragedy.
Three years after the Laurent report was tabled, the CSDEPJ follow-up committee notes that the government is slow to act. It estimates that, at this rate, it will take another 20 years to implement all the report’s recommendations.
Martine Desjardins, chair of the CSDEPJ follow-up committee, points out that we’re a long way from the six-year target set by the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant. We’re halfway there,” she says. We don’t doubt the Minister’s good will, we don’t doubt that the avenues put forward are certainly adequate avenues, but we’re judging the report’s application and right now we’re very worried.”
“We’re a long way from the ten years even projected by Régine Laurent in her letter this morning,” argued Desjardins, referring to the former commissioner’s open letter published in the media on Tuesday.
According to the government’s 2021-2023 progress report on its plan to implement the recommendations, 11 of them have been completed. We’re up to nine, according to the data made available in the report,” says Desjardins. There are two recommendations that we can’t find completed.”
In addition to the 65 recommendations, the Laurent report includes 251 sub-recommendations, which are courses of action. According to government data, 42 per cent of the sub-recommendations are underway or completed. The committee does not come to the same conclusion; instead, it calculates 30 per cent based on inconsistencies.
Inconsistencies between measures government claims to have completed
The committee identified several inconsistencies between the measures the government claims to have completed and the objective of the measure. After analysis, it concludes that the Ministry has consistently completed only one recommendation out of the 65 in the Laurent report. This is recommendation 3.4, which is to facilitate the exchange of information to better serve the interests of the child.
Desjardins points out that the committee is not analyzing whether the government’s proposal is useful, but rather whether it is consistent with the Laurent report’s courses of action.
To give an example of inconsistency, she cites measure 2.8.4, where the committee asked that children placed under the Youth Protection Act be allowed to remain in their living environment, daycare or school, when it is in their best interests. “The government says in its report that it is issuing ministerial guidelines to ensure a smooth transition when changing schools. This may be a good measure, but it doesn’t address recommendation 2.8.4, which called for keeping children in their home environment,” she explains.
“When we look at all these inconsistencies, we come up with 30 per cent of the recommendations that are in the process (of being completed). That’s a percentage that worries us,” says Desjardins. (…) We need to step up the pace right now if we want to make sure we meet the deadlines proposed by Minister Carmant himself.”
The committee also noted that several measures considered urgent have not yet been implemented. Four of the report’s 15 chapters are “neglected”, according to its analysis. These are the chapter on First Nations, the chapter on family conflicts and conjugal violence – a recurring issue, as Desjardins points out – the chapter on the English-speaking community, and the chapter on the growth and stability of investments in youth protection and innovation.
Among the neglected measures, Desjardins names the one on youth center facilities, whose dilapidation has been in the news lately. “These are emergency measures that are still not being put forward at the moment (…) it’s clear to us that there should be priorities in this area,” she denounces.
Lack of transparency
Problems of access to public information and data have come to light in recent weeks. It’s a real problem in Quebec,” says Desjardins. We’re not the only ones to have denounced it.”
The CSDEPJ follow-up committee has produced a comprehensive report, but its president says that “like many others, access to data is extremely difficult”. She would like to see better access to certain data, not just from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, but from other ministries involved in the recommendations, such as the Ministry of Education.
Desjardins also shared the committee’s concerns about Bill 37, the Act respecting the Commissioner for Children’s Welfare and Rights.
For the time being, parliamentary consideration of this bill has been put on hold while the ministry works out the details with First Nations peoples. “Why wasn’t this done before the bill was tabled? We wouldn’t have had to put the adoption of the recommendations in the bill on hold,” says Desjardins.
She hopes that the study of the bill will resume quickly, since it includes several key recommendations, notably the establishment of a Commissioner for Children’s Welfare and Rights, “which is a crucial issue in the urgent measures that need to be put in place”.
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–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews