Longueuil police said a mother who left her young child alone in a car in a Greenfield Park shopping mall parking lot could face charges.
According to police, a passerby noticed the child and call 911.
“(Police) broke a window, they took the child and we took charge of the child and asked for paramedics to make sure his health situation was alright,” said Longueil police spokesperson Francois Boucher.
Paramedics determined the child was fine and police began searching for the mother. She was found shopping in a nearby store.
“The mother met with police on the scene afterwards and a fine was given to her,” said Boucher.
While the fine issued was for breaking section 380 of Quebec’s Highway Safety Code, which forbids leaving a child under the age of seven in a road vehicle unattended, Boucher said she could face additional charges.
Youth Protection was called in to investigate and Boucher said the Crown prosecutor will determine if there’s sufficient evidence to lay a charge of criminal negligence.
Police have contacted stores in the area to review surveillance footage and determine how long the child was left alone.
The Canada Safety Council has warned parents against leaving a child alone even for a few minutes, saying heat affects infants and small children more quickly and dramatically than adults.
At the time of the incident, temperatures reached a high of 28 C.
In June, 2018 a six-month-old died in Montreal after being forgotten in a car all day, with temperatures reaching 25 C.
An average of 37 children die per year in the United States from being left in cars. A study conducted by Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children showed that on average one child in Canada dies per year from the same cause.
