Caroline Poissant, mother of slain child, can claim provincial compensation

The mother of a four-year-old boy killed by his father in 2011 has won her battle to claim compensation as a victim of crime from the provincial compensation fund, IVAC.

"Every parent who loses a child by a criminal act shouldn't have to fight to have IVAC recognize their status as a victim," said Caroline Poissant.

Poissant's son, Jérémie, was staying with her ex-boyfriend in Sainte-Julie in January 2011. When she came to pick him up, she found her son and his father dead in the home's garage.

Poissant says she had to pay for counselling out of her own pocket and had to take time off work.    

Under the provincial law, only crime victims and their dependants are eligible for compensation from the fund. Crime victims are defined as a person injured or killed in Quebec as the result of or during the commission of a criminal offence.

Poissant's lawyer, Marc Bellemare, argued that parents of crime victims should be recognized as victims themselves by IVAC.

In 2013, Bellemere won a similar fight against IVAC on behalf of Patrick Desautels, whose three children were killed by their mother, his former girlfriend.

Bellemere is calling on the government to recognize that parents of murdered and slain children should be considered victims of crime and, therefore, eligible for compensation. 

He said the law should be changed so that parents aren't required in each case to go before an administrative tribunal to gain victim status.

The compensation Poissant will receive is yet to be determined.