The boy was buckled in the back seat of his parent’s Kia while his father was driving in Longueuil when the unmarked police car struck them.
Quebec's Justice Minister has ordered an independent review of the evidence in the case of a five-year-old boy who was killed when a speeding police cruiser struck his father's car.
Stéphanie Vallée made the announcement on Monday, shortly after the Crown prosecutors' office said it would reopen the file. The Crown's decision came after Montreal La Presse published an interview with a woman who witnessed the accident last February.
In interviews with the newspaper and other media, Madeleine Noiseux says she was shocked to see the boy's father being blamed because, according to her, it was clearly the provincial police officer who was at fault.
His cruiser was travelling at more than twice the speed limit of 50 km/h when the accident occurred in Montreal-area city of Longueuil. The Crown confirmed last Friday no charges would be laid against the officer and said the boy's father made a risky manoeuvre. The Crown maintained he decided to turn left on a green light without waiting for the flashing green light that would have given him priority.
The decision to not lay charges against the officer – and the Crown's failure to explain its reasons – was controversial and angered many. In the nine months since the accident, the family of the dead boy and other Quebeckers wondered what could have been so urgent to cause the 29-year-old police officer to drive 72 km/h over the speed limit in a residential area. The officer slowed down to 108 km/h at impact.
Stephanie Thorne, the mother of the child, has said she does not question the quality of the investigation conducted by Montreal police, but the family needs an explanation and an apology.
In other provinces, an independent body investigates deaths, serious injuries and other high-profile cases that involve police officers. If no charges are laid, investigators give relatively detailed summaries of facts and reasons. But in Quebec, neighbouring police forces investigate such cases and provincial Crown prosecutors decide on charges.
In Quebec City, Ms. Vallée said the group of people who will review the evidence will include a former judge. "It's important to maintain the public's faith in this important institution [the Crown] and that's why we've come to the conclusion it would be appropriate to submit the file to independent prosecutors."
The group will decide whether to recommend charges against the officer and will make any recommendations public.
"As a minister and a mother, I am very sensitive to the plight of victims," she said.
The officer's vehicle was the middle of three unmarked cruisers that were tailing another car in a surveillance operation.
La Presse, quoting police documents, said the cruisers were targeting Robert Parent, who was director of the Quebec Liberal party between 2003 and 2008, as part of an anti-corruption probe involving businessmen, elected officials and civil servants.
Mr. Parent told the newspaper last week he met three times with members of Quebec's anti-corruption unit.
"They wanted to know how the party works and what its administrative procedures are," he was quoted as saying. "It was very technical."
With reports from Les Perreaux