Quebec files its “Maureen Breau bill”

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, tabled Bill 66 on Thursday, which the government presents as a way of acting in the wake of the death of Sergeant Maureen Breau.

Quebec wants to establish closer monitoring of people who have been found not criminally responsible due to mental disorders by adding around twenty liaison officers, who will monitor people deemed the most dangerous in society .

The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, tabled Bill 66 on Thursday, which the government presents as a way of acting in the wake of the death of Sergeant Maureen Breau, killed in March 2023 by a man with a history of mental health problems.

The death of Sergeant Breau highlighted the lack of collaboration between police services and the health network. Le Devoir also recently revealed that police officers are mostly unaware that they have access to certain information about people struggling with mental health disorders.

To go further

• Interactive | Autopsy of a predicted tragedy, on the trajectory of Isaac Brouillard Lessard, and the death of Sergeant Maureen Breau
• Investigation | Expertise and monitoring with variable geometry in cases of non-criminal responsibility

There are currently 2,000 people in Quebec who have received verdicts of not criminally responsible due to mental disorders or unfitness to stand trial.

Of the number, 1153 were released with conditions, and approximately half of them represent a level of danger for the population.

“Multidisciplinary team”

By deploying 20 liaison officers — criminologists, psychologists, psychoeducators or social workers — Quebec hopes to ensure better surveillance of these people. Monitoring release conditions is currently a responsibility of hospitals, but it is done in a very variable manner, noted Le Devoir in a recent survey.

With its bill, Quebec does not remove this responsibility from hospitals, but it relies on the complementary work of a “multidisciplinary team” to ensure compliance with the conditions imposed by the Commission for Examination of mental disorders (CETM). The legislative text also aims to facilitate the transfer of information between the health network and the police forces.

Quebec also wants to ensure a more fluid flow of information between the CETM and the Quebec Police Intelligence Center (CRPQ). Police officers are most often unaware of the existence of the CETM, which is not addressed in their training program. Information from the CETM also takes too long to reach the CRPQ, noted Quebec.

In addition to the bill, the government has also committed to creating information capsules about the CETM so that they can be presented to aspiring police officers training at the School national police force. The government is working on a standardized dangerousness assessment tool: none currently exists.

Further details will follow.