Quebec slow to make changes to child protection system after Granby girl's 2019 killing

It's been five years since a seven year-old girl was killed by her stepmother in Granby, after months of abuse, in the presence of her father who never intervened.

The case put Quebec's youth protection system under the microscope. A damning report was supposed to bring about changes but little has changed since.

The child will forever be remembered as the Granby girl. She died in her home after suffocating while wrapped head-to-toe in plastic cellophane that her step-mother used to prevent the child from running away.

Her father was just granted statutory release from prison after serving two-thirds of his three-and-a-half year sentence for forcible confinement. He will be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in the community under certain conditions as of May 7. His sentence ends on July 6, 2025.

The girl's relatives are outraged by his early release.

"This little girl is not among us, and she lost her life. And that's the price that the father paid. So it's unfortunate. There's a real reflection to do as far as the sentences and that's in the federal that it should happen," said Valerie Assouline, a lawyer who represented some of the girl's family.

Following the tragedy, the government ordered a commission headed by Régine Laurent to study why youth protection failed to raise a red flag on the child's living conditions. The recommendations called for major changes in the system, including prevention, and better coordination between various authorities.

But a committee of experts says that three years after the report came out, little progress has been made.

"Well, we have some concerns because at this rhythm, I think we are looking for 20 years from now to make sure that we have all the recommendations followed," Martine Desjardins, president of the Laurent Commission Watchdog Committee.

The promised changes, she says, have yet to include key issues, including chapters for Indigenous and English-speaking people. "There's nothing done about those chapters," Desjardins said.

The provincial government insists that almost half the recommendations have been put in place.

As for the stepmother who was found guilty of second-degree murder in the young girl's killing, she was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole before 13 years.