It is not paid because of a delay

News 17 March, 2018
  • Photo from the archives, Valerie Gonthier
    Dominique Martel had given to the Newspaper, in 2012, have the impression of being forgotten by the system after having denounced a murderer who had tried to kill her.

    Michael Nguyen

    Saturday, 17 march 2018 01:00

    UPDATE
    Saturday, 17 march 2018 01:00

    Look at this article

    Reduced to living on the street after having been the victim of one of the worst sexual predators in Quebec who failed to assassinate him, a Montreal may not, however, be compensated, because it has delayed too long to fill out an administrative form.

    “The request has been received 28 months too late. Obviously, the appellant has waived the benefit of the compensation to victims of crime in a timely manner, ” ruled the Tribunal administratif du Québec (TAQ) at the beginning of the month.

    Dominique Martel, a former escort now homeless, does not receive a penny of the compensation scheme for victims of criminal acts (IVAC) under the ministry of Justice of Quebec.

    The attempted murder which she was the victim occurred in October 2009. At the time, Ms. Martel was working as an escort when she went to the home of Claude Larouche, who was paid to talk about their problems.

    Photo courtesy

    Claude Larouche
    Murderer

    Trauma

    The latter had complained that his “small penis” before jumping to the throat of the woman. He then tried to strangle her, hit her in the face.

    Ms. Martel has survived but, traumatized, she dove into drugs and alcohol to the point of becoming homeless.

    “She lost everything, she received only social assistance, recognizes the TAQ in its decision. She had no friends and was not able to go seek help. She would like to regain a quality of life, recover his or her home. “

    The victim complained to the police a few weeks after the attempted murder, after she learned that her abuser had also brutally murdered Natasha Cournoyer, an employee of the canadian corrections.

    “I’ve done it too for her “, had entrusted to Ms. Martel in the Journal, at the time.

    Life in Prison

    Larouche, 56 years old, has since been sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole before 25 years for the premeditated murder of Ms. Cournoyer. It was subsequently declared a dangerous offender with a sentence of indeterminate duration for the attempted murder on Ms. Martel.

    The TAQ argues that this sentence was pronounced in June 2014, but the hearing actually took place the month before.

    Ms. Martel had one year from December 2011 to fill the form, had dealt with the officials.

    As the document was completed on may 2, 2014, State employees have “alleged” that Ms. Martel did not want money. The administrative judges, Daniel Lagueux and Alexander Crich confirmed this decision, despite the opinion of a psychiatrist.

    “Madame has lived in a state of denial and intoxication of drugs and alcohol that made it completely […] unable to evaluate the psychological consequences of the assault and also prevented […] to take steps “, had written the psychiatrist.

    Contacted by The Newspaper, the lawyer for Ms. Martel ensures that it will be appealing the decision. And he intends to prove that despite the time, given the state of the victim, she deserves to be compensated.

    “It not let it not, it is certain,” assured Me Bruno Messier-Bellemare.

    A decision “inhumane,” said senator Boisvenu

    For the honourable senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, the decision not to indemnify Dominique Martel because of a time out is simply ” inconceivable and inhuman.”

    “It is indecent on the part of the IVAC [the compensation scheme for victims of crime],” said-t it. It has no meaning, it is totally inhuman, unjust, and immoral. He must denounce. “

    The senator, who has made the rights of victims, one of his horses to battle, recalled that the ministry of Justice had stated that the time limits for filing a compensation claim would be revised.

    Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin

    Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu

    Senator

    Legal deadline

    The one-year period has been increased to two in 2013, but the change is not retroactive. Ms. Martel, who was almost killed by the killer Claude Larouche in 2009, did not have the luxury to wait, despite the psychological distress and the fact that she was found abandoned and on the street.

    But even if she had been able to take advantage of the extension of the waiting time, it would have changed nothing because it has had 28 months of delay, which is four more than the new time allowed by the law.

    The administrative court, which acknowledged that it had suffered a severe trauma and that she was from the street, has therefore refused to compensate.

    “When you look at the personal situation of madame, I do not understand at all the decision “, he mentioned.

    The minister blamed

    Senator Boisvenu did not hesitate to blame the minister of Justice, Stéphanie Vallée, whom he holds responsible for regulations that ensure that Ms. Martel will not be compensated.

    Yet, in a folder such as this one, the officials would have had to be ” doubly nice “, considering the violence of the crime she has suffered, ” Mr. Boisvenu.

    “The government victimizes to new victims, it is he who is to blame “, according to the senator.

    He laments, moreover, that in criminal cases, the accused have the right to reasonable doubt. But when it comes time for a victim to ask to be compensated, it has not this right.

    “These people don’t understand,” he concludes by saying that it hoped a positive outcome to this whole matter to the victim.