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Second follow-up report
Pathways of First Nations and Inuit Children, Youth and Families in Youth Protection in Québec
The Protecteur du citoyen has released the second follow-up report on the calls for action issued by the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make a complaint
Yes. If a member of your family, one of your friends or an organization cannot lodge a complaint, you can do so for them. However, if you want to be informed about the Protecteur du citoyen’s conclusions, the person or organization has to fill out the Power of Attorney form (PDF, 124 KB) for that purpose beforehand.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen cannot accept complaints about schools, whether they be public or private. Instead, you must contact the regional student ombudsman in your territory. The student ombudsman is responsible for handling complaints concerning, for example, inadequate behaviour by teaching staff or school principals or any situations involving bullying or violence.
To find out more, read our article Complaints in schools: new recourse for parents and students.
Denounce a reprehensible act
According to the Act to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoings relating to public bodies, the following are considered wrongdoings:
- Misuse of a public body’s funds or property;
- Serious breach of ethics and professional conduct;
- Serious mismanagement within a public body and abuse of authority;
- Ordering or advising a person to commit a wrongdoing;
- Damage or risk of damage to health or safety of a person or the environment;
- Contravention of a law or regulation applicable in Québec.
See the What is a wrongdoing? section for more details.
If no settlement is reached at the end of mediation, or if you refuse mediation, you have two options.
First, we offer you a free legal representation service. We can represent you in any administrative or civil proceedings we deem appropriate, including before the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT) if your complaint is employment-related. When this happens, your complaint is transferred to the TAH without delay, if you agree.
The second option is to hold an administrative investigation within 9 months of receiving your complaint to determine whether reprisal has occurred. This investigation can only be carried out if the courts are not involved. If we find that reprisal has occurred, we make recommendations to rectify the situation.
In addition to these last options, we can also conduct a criminal investigation to determine whether there is an offence in connection with your reprisal complaint.
To find out more, see the Handling reprisal complaints page.