This proposed class action concerns abuses committed in Quebec against indigenous children placed in reception centres (also known as “youth centres”).
On September 22, 2023, we filed an application with the Superior Court to authorize a class action against the Quebec government and 16 integrated (university and non-university) health and social services centres (also known as CISSS or CIUSSS), the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services and the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay on behalf of the following persons:
Any Inuit, Métis or First Nations individual who, as a minor, has stayed in a reception centre since October 1, 1950, under a Youth Protection Law and who has been subjected to measures, discrimination, sexual abuse or denied an education at a centre.
NOTE: We invite you to consult the Authorization Application available below for more information, particularly on the terms and expressions identified in bold above.
One of the objectives of this class action is to obtain financial compensation for the victims of abuse committed in these institutions. (Please note that there is currently no judgment or settlement awarding such compensation).
The types of abuse for which financial compensation is sought are as follows:
- isolation, confinement or being placed in a cell, common room or other locked room, with or without chemical (pharmacological) or mechanical restraint (straitjacket, chains, handcuffs or other). Some of these measures have been referred to as the “quiet room”, the “QT”, the “hole” or the “stop-action”.
- use of force or physical abuse
- forced administration of drugs or other chemical substances
- sexual abuse
We are working on preparing the file for the authorization hearing.
If you believe you have suffered any of the abuses listed above and would like to be informed of developments, we invite you to subscribe to this mailing list. Simply send an e-mail to ac@alexeevco.com (or use the form below). If you are unable to receive updates by e-mail, we also send them by regular mail.
Please note that our team has also initiated the following two class actions involving abuses also suffered in “youth centres”, but raising separate or additional issues. We invite you to consult these pages or contact us if you would like more information:
- Persons placed under a Youth Protection Act (E.L. v. Procureur Général du Québec and al.)
- Persons placed under a Young Offenders Act (A.D. v. Procureur Général du Québec and al.)