Authorities are deciding if a woman who left a child in a parked car Tuesday morning will face criminal charges.
The 16-month-old girl was left alone in a car in the Galeries d'Anjou parking lot, and was alone for an undetermined amount of time before a passerby notified police.
When officers arrived they broke a window and got the baby out of the car.
Paramedics gave the baby a checkup and determined there was no need to bring the child to hospital.
When the mother, 30, was located she was fined $60 plus fees for leaving the child alone in the car. Her fine was for contravening the Highway Safety Code which forbids leaving a child under age seven unattended in a vehicle.
With humidity, it felt like 30 degrees Celsius in Montreal Tuesday.
Police say it is never advisable to leave a child alone in a car.
"There's no way you can leave a child inside a vehicle," said Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture. "It's pretty dangerous. It's hot outside, they're young, they don't have all the defences an adult has, so don't leave the child inside a vehicle. Just take them with you if you have to go shopping, if you have to go somewhere. Don't leave your child inside the vehicle."
Youth protection services were advised of the case and the mother could face charges of criminal negligence, pending a prosecutor's decision.
Last month another mother was fined $60 for leaving a 7-month-old boy alone in a parking lot at the Rockland Centre.
