Years after scathing report into mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec, few calls to action imposed

Nearly four years after Quebec’s Viens report documented the mistreatment of Indigenous people, less than a third of the calls to action laid out in the commission have been implemented or are progressing as expected.

Quebec’s ombudsman, Marc-André Dowd, published the first update on the commission Wednesday, which was based on a three-year inquiry into the treatment of Indigenous people by Quebec’s public service.

Retired Superior Court justice Jacques Viens wrote in the September 2019 report “it seems impossible to deny the systemic discrimination members of the First Nations and Inuit face in their relations with the public service.”

Viens outlined 142 calls to action. 

Dowd says the lack of results to date is due to several factors, including an absence of overall strategy by the Quebec government, fragmented initiatives and insufficient substantive planning.

‘A long road ahead,’ says ombudsman

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Dowd says there is a need for global leadership and co-ordination to generate systemic change and to build solutions.

He pointed to areas that need improvement, such as youth protection services, and how there is not enough being done to remedy the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth still in youth protection. Only four out of the 30 calls for action concerning youth protection services have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.

Dowd says is important to note that government and public institutions have put in place some measures and investments, such as the building of residences for Indigenous students, for example. 

But he hopes in his next report, he’ll be able to announce a full implementation.

“There is still a long road ahead,” said Dowd. “Four years after the report was filed, this is clearly does not meet expectations.”

Quebec Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière says he has seen the ombudsman’s report and that implementing change will take time. 

“Do we see action? Do we see change? Absolutely. Is it perfect? No,” said Lafrenière. 

“Believe me it’s not over, believe me it’s not perfect. I received this report with a lot of humility, realizing that there is still a lot of work to do.”   

The calls to action focused on five sectors: policing, correctional services, the justice system, health and social services and youth protection.

The update, presented in Val d’Or, Que., highlighted the progress in each sector, including cross-disciplinary calls for action which include various public services:

• Seven out of the 26 cross-disciplinary calls for action have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.
• Eight out of the 18 calls for action concerning correctional services have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.
• Five out of the 13 calls for action concerning police services have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.
• Nine out of the 16 calls for action concerning justice services have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.
• 10 out of the 34 calls for action concerning health services and social services have been implemented or are progressing as expected.
• Four out of the 30 calls for action concerning youth protection services have been fully implemented or are progressing as expected.