What do the #MeToo movement, feminicides, the little girl from Granby, the increase in shootings and murders committed by people identified as having mental disorders have in common? Bad political decisions and a system stuck in its old ways.
These events could have been avoided or mitigated. They are only the result of previous decisions, the main objective of which was to please the population (election obliges) or to save pennies.
Want some examples?
It took the #MeToo movement and feminicides for Quebec to set up special courts and thoroughly review the support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
It took several shootings over two consecutive years for the establishment of a squad dedicated to firearms and the strengthening of teams specializing in the fight against criminal groups, some of which had been abolished or weakened for financial reasons. There is a tendency in the system to destroy what it builds when calm returns. Nonsense.
It took the death of a 7-year-old child in Granby to review the DYP system. And now, another slap, that of mental disorders.
Mental health and crime
There is no direct link between mental disorders and crime. With nearly 12% of the population of Quebec suffering from this type of disease, we would have a greater number of attacks if the disease were the only factor in the passage to violent action.
It is a set of risk factors (social, family, personal, etc.) and an event at a specific time that can lead the person to cross the line.
However, most of the time, the treatment or management of these people tends to emphasize the mental disorder instead of acting on all the risk factors.
Bad government decision?
Mental health is the poor relation of the health and justice systems. The services are far from meeting the needs of the patients. What does science say? Intensive follow-up in the community is an important element in stabilizing patients. A team of health professionals should be deployed on the ground for every 100,000 inhabitants.
Around 2008, the Dr Delorme, the former national director of mental health in Quebec, has the mission of establishing and deploying this type of team across Quebec. Supervision is then provided by the National Center of Excellence in Mental Health.
In 2019, the Dr Delorme leaves office, believing that the government no longer allows him to deploy new teams, and in 2021 the National Center is abolished, thus destroying years of expertise. Since then, 19 teams are missing, including 10 in Montreal. More penny-pinching savings and the destruction of assets!
Strangely, since 2020, there have been several attacks involving unstable people. Were they under the supervision of an intensive community monitoring team?