Hanes: Coroner Kamel is well equipped to find the truth after the latest Quebec tragedy

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If anyone can untangle the Gordian Knot of how a suspect with a history of mental illness, previously flagged as a public safety risk, randomly murdered three strangers before being shot dead by police in a chilling drama that left Montreal residents shocked, is Coroner Géhane. Kamel.

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It is this ruthless, rigorous and fearless inquisitor whom Pasacle Descary, Quebec’s chief coroner, chose to preside over an investigation to unravel this overlapping tragedy. Kamel has already made sense of some of Quebec’s worst calamities.

Last fall, he delivered a bombshell report on the death of Joyce Echaquan. Atikamekw, a mother of seven, livestreamed her own final moments in which she was verbally abused by staff as she lay dying in a Joliette hospital in 2020, in what became the equivalent of George Floyd’s moment from Québec.

Kamel’s findings, in particular that Echaquan was the victim of systemic racism, challenged Prime Minister François Legault’s stubborn claims that racism exists in Quebec, but not of the systemic kind.

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Kamel also took on the formidable task of uncovering how residents of Quebec’s public long-term care homes died alone and destitute in the early days of the pandemic, including 47 vulnerable seniors at Herron’s private facility in Dorval. He pulled back the curtain of bureaucratic opacity, subpoenaing cabinet ministers and dismissing top civil servants, leaving his credibility in tatters.

His report denounced the appalling institutional disregard that “passed the buck” for protecting the elderly during the first wave of COVID-19.

Kamel will have his hands full again. His mandate requires him not only to examine gaps in mental health care and how the judicial system treats patients with psychiatric problems, but also to look at Montreal police’s response to a rapidly advancing investigation.

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There is a lot of unpacking.

Three people were shot and killed over two days last week while going about their business in Montreal and Laval. André Fernand Lemieux, the father of boxer David Lemieux, went for a walk. Mohamed Salah Belhaj, a father of two, made the fateful decision to take the bus to his night shift at a hospital. Alex Lévis-Crevier, a construction worker, was riding a skateboard.

If the chilling, serial nature of these killings wasn’t immediately apparent in a city where sporadic gun violence is on the rise, police barely linked the deaths when they tracked down the suspect at a dubious motel, where he died in an apparent confrontation with police. .

The revelations that Abdulla Shaikh was not found criminally responsible for a series of bizarre intrusions at Trudeau and Mirabel airports in 2018 added another dimension. Questions immediately arose as to why he was released by the Commission d’examen des problemes mentaux last spring despite being described as a “significant risk” to public safety.

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Unions representing health workers at the Cité de la santé de Laval psychiatric unit have since told the Montreal Gazette’s Paul Cherry that Shaikh had threatened staff in more sinister ways than the usual kinds of threats. intimidation to which they are subjected by patients. Meanwhile, La Presse discovered a serious shortage of personnel in outpatient psychiatric care.

Any follow-up, or lack thereof, that Shaikh receives will be material for the coroner’s investigation.

So will the police operation that led to Shaikh’s death. Montreal police were praised for quickly connecting the dots between seemingly disparate shootings and zeroing in on one suspect. But every time a person dies during an interaction with the police, it is cause for concern.

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The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes is already investigating the matter in accordance with its mandate. But Kamel may have questions of his own in a city where police shootings of mentally challenged people, especially those from minority groups, have often drawn scrutiny.

What we can anticipate from Kamel during his investigation is keen insight, the ability to fit small details into the big picture, and penetrating questions that get to the heart of the matter. But we can also expect compassion.

Her approach will once again put her at odds with Legault, who raised eyebrows at her insensitive comments.

“I’m glad we got rid of that guy.Legault declared, after wondering why Shaikh was released despite red flags.

Legault tried to tone down his comments after an outcry, saying he didn’t mean to sound like he was “rejoicing” over the death of someone with serious psychological problems. But the prime minister’s poorly chosen words made a tragic situation worse, further stigmatizing mental illness and seemingly justifying a police shooting.

But if anyone can shed the necessary light through the cracks in these interlocking systems, it is Kamel.

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