By Canadian Press

Mom of slain Quebec boys seeking compensation over alleged youth protection failures

Apr 25, 2022 | 11:19 AM

MONTREAL — The mother of two deceased boys whose father is accused of killing them is seeking $2 million from the Quebec government because she says youth protection services failed her family.

In a lawyer’s letter dated Friday, Émilie Arsenault accuses Quebec’s youth protection service of failing to act despite it being allegedly contacted three times prior to her children’s deaths.

The letter addressed to the Health Department and the regional authority responsible for youth protection says the provincial agency had been alerted by a hospital worker, provincial police and the mother, between May 2018 and January 2020.

The bodies of Olivier, 5, and Alex, 2, were found Oct. 13, 2020, in a home in Wendake, Que., a Huron-Wendat First Nation territory near Quebec City.

Their father, Michaël Chicoine, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

Neither the Health Department nor the regional health authority were immediately available for comment today.

Valérie Assouline, the lawyer representing Arsenault, says the system needs to be held responsible for its failures.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2022.

The Canadian Press