After Amqui vehicle rampage, Quebec muses about barring mental health patients from driving

MONTREAL—After a second deadly vehicle rampage in two months, Quebec’s public safety minister says it may be time to review whether people with certain mental health problems should be prevented from getting behind the wheel.

François Bonnardel, speaking in the wake of an incident Monday that killed two people and injured nine others in Amqui, Que., said the government has an obligation to review the facts of the case to determine whether there are measures that can be taken to improve public safety in the province.

The alleged driver of the vehicle, Steeve Gagnon, reportedly turned himself in to police and will appear in court Tuesday afternoon to face criminal charges in connection with the deaths of 65-year-old Gerald Charest and 73-year-old Jean Lafreniere, both of Amqui. Gagnon now faces two charges of dangerous driving causing death.

Among the injured are two children, one that is three years old and another that is less than one year old.

Last month, a similar incident resulted in the deaths of two young children when a city bus driver in Laval, north of Montreal, drove into a daycare. In that case, witnesses said that the alleged driver was in a delirious rage and had taken off his pants following the crash and had to be forcibly restrained by several people until police arrived.

“We can’t presume anything with the driver in this case. Was it intentional? Was there a problem of mental health? We don’t know,” Bonnardel said in a briefing with reporters in the town, a town in the Gaspé Peninsula about 400 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

“But each time that something like this occurs we are disturbed as elected officials, and we ask ourselves what can we do or what could we have done to prevent it?”

In earlier an earlier interview with Radio-Canada, the minister said officials need to know if people responsible for such acts had mental health problems and, if so, whether they were receiving medical treatment.

“And after that,” he continued, “if these people can obtain a driver’s licence.”

In the later news conference, Bonnardel insisted that he was “thinking out loud” and clarified that the provincial government was not announcing a change or review of any policies.

“These senseless murders are difficult to prevent. You can put everything in place and tomorrow morning someone can decided to jump in a car or a truck and hit people, but this is my responsibility and our responsibilities as elected officials … to do the work and see what can be done,” he said.

“Is it applicable in all cases? Surely not, but it’s still our job to ensure the safety and to reassure the population of Quebec.”

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