2017 QCCQ 6331, 2017 QCCQ 6331

Protection de la jeunesse — 172840 2017 QCCQ 6331 COURT OF QUÉBEC CANADA PROVINCE OF QUÉBEC DISTRICT OF [...] TOWN OF [...] Youth Division No: 610-41-000733-170 & 610-41-000734-178 DATE: April 27, 2017 ______________________________________________________________________ BY THE HONOURABLE MARIE-CLAUDE BÉLANGER, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ MRS [SOCIAL WORKER 1], exercising her profession at the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux A, having a place of business at [...], City A, district A, [...] Applicant -and- X & Y, residing at [...] in City B, district A, [...] Children -and- MRS A, residing at [...] in City B, district A, [...] Mother -and- MR B, unknown address Father ______________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT (Sections 38 & 75 of the Youth Protection Act ) ______________________________________________________________________ WARNING: The Youth Protection Act forbids the publishing or broadcasting of information allowing for a child or the child’s parents to be identified.

Any person who contravenes this provision commits an offence and is liable to a fine (sections 11.2, 11.2.1 and 135 Y.P.A.). [ 1 ] The Director of Youth Protection filed an application to have the security and development of X, born on [...], 2013, and Y, born on [...], 2015, declared endangered due to psychological ill-treatment and serious risk of negligence. [ 2 ] The mother was present at the audition, the father was not. According to the mother, he is presently in [Province A], where he works. He was aware of the present hearing, but did not intend to be present.

As it will be explained further, since January 14, 2017, he is wanted by the police for a conjugal violence related event, and has left City B since. [ 3 ] The young girls have been living with their parents since birth. A provisional agreement was signed by the parents on December 14, 2016, entrusting the children to the mother for a period of 30 days while the father agreed to live with his brother. [ 4 ] This agreement followed two events of conjugal violence between the parents, where police officers were called at their house. [ 5 ] The first event occurred on November 30, 2016.

The parents were arguing and the father pushed the mother around. When the police arrived he had left the house and the mother was upset and crying. She did not file a complaint. The children were present during the incident. [ 6 ] On December 8, 2016, the police was called once more to the family domicile. Shouts and thrown objects were heard by witnesses. Both parents had left when the officers arrived. [ 7 ] On January 14, 2017, on the day the provisional agreement expired, the father returned to the family domicile to live with his spouse and children.

During the afternoon, they started to fight and the father gave a headbutt to the mother on her nose. The eldest daughter, X, witnessed the event. [ 8 ] The mother’s nose was swollen and bruised and she felt dizzy and nauseous. She was brought to the hospital.

[ 9 ] As soon as the father saw the police officer in the house, he escaped without shoes or a coat. The police looked for him after the event but could not locate him. To this day, they are still looking for him in regards to the event. [ 10 ] It was also the last time the mother saw him. She is not in a relationship with him anymore. He did get in touch with her and the girls through FaceTime twice since then, but these are the only contacts they had.

The mother goes through a co-worker’s Facebook page to send him messages. [ 11 ] The Director of Youth Protection has no means to get in contact with him. [ 12 ] After this event, the mother went to live with her mother, the maternal grandmother, Mrs C. She found a job at the [School A]. She submitted her request to obtain housing on the reserve A for her and her children. [ 13 ] She is pregnant with her third child with the father, who was informed of the pregnancy. [ 14 ] The father is and has been struggling with an alcohol and drug consumption problem for years.

A dynamic of domestic violence has develop between the parents since the beginning of their relationship. They do not shield the children from these episodes who are repeatedly exposed to this violent behavior. [ 15 ] It is clear that the father needs to address his consumption problem. The intoxication often triggers the quarrels, the fighting and the violence that follows. [ 16 ] The parents both have to learn to manage their emotions and their anger in a better way.

Evidently, the communication between them is lacking to positively express their emotions in a non-violent way. [ 17 ] The mother says that she does not have the intention of renewing her relationship with the father at this point. She acknowledges that he does need to seek treatment. [ 18 ] Both parents must, for the sake of their young daughters, develop a better understanding of their children’s feeling surrounding the issue of domestic violence.

Exposure to such violence by children is detrimental to their development because there is a risk, among others, that they model aggressive behavior in their relationship with others. [ 19 ] It is paramount that they shield the children from any violence and offer them a secure violence free environment. [ 20 ] The father needs to address his substance abuse and anger management problems. [ 21 ] If they decide to reconcile and pursue their relationship in the future, the parents should seek help to improve their communication skills in order to prevent the return of violent behavior that has developed between them in the past.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT : [ 22 ] GRANTS the motions; [ 23 ] DECLARES that the security and development of X and Y are endangered according to sections 38 (

c) psychological ill- treatment (exposure to conjugal violence), 38 (b) (2) serious risk of negligence (substances abuse by the father); [ 24 ] ORDERS that the children be entrusted to the mother for a period of one year, with the exclusion of their father who shall not live with them; [ 25 ] RECOMMENDS that the mother and the children live with the maternal grandmother, Mrs.

C, until the mother finds her own housing; [ 26 ] ORDERS that the contacts between the children and the father be favored and supervised by the Director of youth protection concerning the frequency, the form and the length and in the presence of a third party as long as deemed necessary by the Director; [ 27 ] ORDERS that the children and the parents participates actively to the application of the measures; [ 28 ] STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that the father address his substance abuse problem by entering into a follow-up with a professional, as long as deemed necessary by the professional; [ 29 ] STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that the father participates in a follow-up concerning his anger management problem with a professional as long as deemed necessary by the professional; [ 30 ] ORDERS that a person working for an institution or body provide aid, counselling and assistance to the children and their family for a period of one year; [ 31 ] ORDERS that the parents present themselves on a regular basis to the Director of Youth Protection to inform him of the evolution of the situation; [ 32 ] ORDERS that the parents inform the Director of Youth Protection of the following changes: moving, phone number, situation between the parents (nature of their relationship); [ 33 ] ORDERS that any police officer collaborates in the execution of the present order if necessary; [ 34 ] ENTRUST the situation of the children to the Director of Youth Protection for the purposes of executing the above mentioned measures.

__________________________________ MARIE-CLAUDE BÉLANGER, J.C.Q. M e Julie Lemire Lemire, Gaouette & Martel Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux Lawyer for the D.Y.P. M e Daniel Ouellette Legal Aid Lawyer for the children Date of hearing: March 30, 2017