2023 QCCQ 10383, 2023 QCCQ 10383

Protection de la jeunesse — 235143 2023 QCCQ 10383 COURT OF QUÉBEC CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC DISTRICT OF [...] TOWN OF [...] « Youth Division »

No: 105-41-000622-234 DATE : August 31, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ BY THE HONOURABLE CELESTINA ALMEIDA, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ THE DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION Applicant and X Born on [...], 2014 Child and A B Parents JUDGEMENT 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 9.2, 9.3 and 135 Y.P.A.). [ 1 ] The director of youth protection (DYP) asks the Court to declare that the security and the development of the child is in danger according to sections 38 (b) 2 o and 38 (

c) of the Youth Protection Act , namely because of a serious risk of neglect and a situation of psychological ill-treatment. [ 2 ] A t the hearing, the parents are absent although they have been duly notified. As for the child, his counsel expresses his consent with the measures proposed by the DYP but questions the length of the measure.

CONTEXT [ 3 ] The DYP got involved with the family after serious allegations regarding the father’s instability and his drug consumption. [ 4 ] On January 27, 2023, a judgment on provisional measures is rendered entrusting the child to his father until February 27, 2023, with several other conditions. These measures were extended until the present hearing. [ 5 ] This is not the first intervention of the DYP within this family. Last time was from March 2019 until November 2019. ANALYSIS AND DECISION [ 6 ] The parents separated and the father had full custody of the child since April 2019.

In the last two years, the mother has had very little contacts with the child and no physical contact at all. Since last summer, she barely even talks with her son over the phone. She explains that it is the father who prevents her from talking to her child and he speaks badly of her to their son.

Despite that, she would like eventually to regain custody of her child but not for the time being, since she has another child and a busy schedule. [ 7 ] The child mentions that his father and stepmother are always arguing, fighting, or yelling at each other or exchanging bad words, but he is not allowed to talk about it, even if sometimes he is scared and trembles when this occurs. They move a lot in the past years, and he lived in several places as well as changing school.

[ 8 ] In December 2022, the DYP makes a surprise visit at home. There is a strong smell of cannabis in the house as soon as they enter it. It is agreed that they will not smoke in the house anymore to avoid the smell everywhere and for the child’s sake. Even if the father and his partner have agreed with that plan, they continue to smoke in the house. The child often smells cannabis when meeting the DYP. [ 9 ] During this same visit, it is noticed that the house is not clean and a lot of dirty dishes in the kitchen. A drug screening test is done to the father, that comes back, positive for cocaine.

The father cannot explain such result. Another drug screening test is done right away but comes back positive only for cannabis. [ 10 ] During 2022–2023, the father moved multiple times from home with the child due to his drug use problem. The child was in two different schools in different languages English/French. He has problems creating relations with his peers because of the language barrier. The father is in a precarious financial situation, and unemployed.

However, without income and only living on family allowances, he still manages to purchase cannabis, since he uses daily, demonstrating that the child’s needs are not a priority, such as buying glasses he desperately needs. [ 11 ] In January 2023, the father’s screening drug test reveals a positive test for amphetamines and methamphetamine. Again, he does not understand why he obtains such result. On May 12, 2023, he tested positive only for cannabis. However, on May 23, 2023, he tested positive for cocaine.

The DYP believes that some of the tests are not done properly or tainted. [ 12 ] In school, it is observed that the child’s brother arrives often without lunch and even if the family is notified of the situation, nothing changes. The school staff must prepare his lunch for him to eat. His clothes are sometimes too big for him, not always clean and could smell cannabis as well as his school material. [ 13 ] The child is 8 years old, and he has been living in the past months in an unhealthy and unstable environment.

In one report [1] , the situation of the child is summarized as follows: He shows signs of ADHD, struggles with his peers, struggles to control his emotions, and behaves poorly in the school bus. He requires parental structure and discipline to help develop to his full potential. [ 14 ] The child’s stepmother relates that the father when they were together at the time, was very aggressive, used heavy drugs and drank alcohol. He even made several holes in the walls of the house while he is angry. [ 15 ] At the beginning the collaboration of the father was mitigated and lacked transparency which was worrisome.

In May 2023, he broke up with his girlfriend and lived for a certain period with his own mother with the child. The child’s grandmother provides them food and transportation. There is still a possibility that the couple are reunited but not before they work on their issues, according to them. [ 16 ] Recently, the father showed more honesty towards the DYP. He is more transparent regarding his drug issue. He admits his difficulties, which he denied in the past. His behaviour is changing positively. The father recognizes that he needs services and to work on his anger issue as well as his addictions.

He made some steps to have services from the organism A [2] . He is also waiting services from the addiction program at the CLSC. [ 17 ] The DYP is asking for a year measure, which seems appropriate to assure some stability for the child and the time required for the father to seek counselling in order to change his way of life. His problems are serious, and time is required to demonstrate that he made the appropriate changes and to prove that he can care for his son as well as provide him a stable environment. Presently, the father is unstable and lives in one place to another.

This is not suitable for a child, which requires a routine, a secure and a nurturing environment. [ 18 ] The evidence demonstrates that the security and development of the child are in danger according to sections 38 (b) 2 o and 38 (

c) of the Youth Protection Act . [ 19 ] Considering the evidence adduced, the absence of contestation of the parents and, the child’s lawyer consent, the application is well founded. Furthermore, the measures suggested by the DYP are in the child’s best interest. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT: [ 20 ] GRANTS the application for protection; [ 21 ] DECLARES that the security and the development of X are in danger according to sections 38 (b) 2 o and 38 (

c) of the Youth Protection Act; [ 22 ] ORDERS that the child be entrusted to his paternal grandmother, Mrs.

C, until July 31, 2024, excluding the father unless authorized by the DYP; [ 23 ] ORDERS that the contacts between the child and his parents be determined according to an agreement between the parties and AUTHORIZES the DYP or any other persons designated by them, to supervise the contacts; [ 24 ] ORDERS that the child receive health care and health services required by his condition; [ 25 ] RECOMMENDS that the father involves himself in counselling related to his personal difficulties, such anger management and addiction problem, as long as deemed necessary by the professionals; [ 26 ] PROHIBITS the father from being under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the presence of the child; [ 27 ] ORDERS that the father provides a secure and violent free-living environment to the child;

[ 28 ] ORDERS that the parents report periodically to the DYP on the measures they apply on themselves or their child in order to put an end to the situation in which his security or development is in danger; [ 29 ] ORDERS that the parents actively participate in the application of the measures ordered to put an end to the situation of endangerment; [ 30 ] ORDERS the DYP to deposit the child’s birth certificate in the court’s file within a delay of 6 months; [ 31 ] ORDERS that a person working for an establishment provide aid, counsel and assistance to the child and his family until July 31, 2024; [ 32 ] ENTRUSTS the situation of the child to the DYP of the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux A for the carrying out of the present judgment; [ 33 ] ORDERS that the parties concerned by this order to comply with it. _________________________________ CELESTINA ALMEIDA, J.C.Q.

Me Joanie Bujold for the applicant Me Jules Grenier for the child Ms. A the mother (absent) Mr. B the father (absent) Date of hearing: July 4, 2023