Quebec orders public inquiry into deaths of missing Carpentier girls killed by father

Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault has asked the coroner's office to launch a public inquiry into the deaths of two young girls and their father who killed them, after a Radio-Canada investigation revealed the search for the missing girls was mishandled.

The sisters, Norah and Romy Carpentier, aged 11 and 6, went missing with their father on July 8, 2020, after a car crash on Highway 20 in Saint-Apollinaire, Que., a municipality about 45 kilometres southwest of Quebec City.

A coroner's report released in November 2021 concluded that Martin Carpentier killed his daughters with a blunt object in the woods the day after the crash, before taking his own life.

Earlier this week, the Quebec coroner's office announced that it would take another look at how provincial police conducted the search for the girls in light of new information it received after March 10, when Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquête broadcast a report on that search. 

The Enquête report revealed that mistakes made early on in the provincial police search for the girls cost precious hours that might have made the difference between life and death.

In a statement Monday, the coroner's office said Coroner Sophie Régnière, who conducted the initial inquest, would determine whether the report on that inquest needed to be amended in light of information that had not been previously made available to her, or even whether a public inquiry is needed.

Guilbault said she was "troubled" by the Enquête report, and while she has full confidence in the abilities of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), she said the public inquiry she is ordering is necessary to restore the public's confidence. 

"It's important that people know that if there are disappearances that happen in Quebec, that police forces have the capacity and the competency to handle these situations," said Guilbault.

She said the need for a public inquiry is not a reflection on the quality of Régnière's initial report, which she said was a "good, substantial report." Guilbault said the SQ is also in favour of a public inquiry. 

In a statement, SQ spokesperson Catherine Bernard said that the force would co-operate fuly with the inquiry but declined to make any further comment. 

The Enquête investigation also highlighted how, a year before the Carpentier sisters were killed, the SQ had abolished three emergency search units made up of 70 officers who specialized in ground searches, with a plan to redeploy many of those officers as highway patrollers.

Opposition parties criticized the CAQ government for this change, but Guilbault said this was an "operational decision" made by SQ leadership, not by the government itself. 

She pointed out the provincial budget tabled Tuesday includes $10.1 million over five years to "intensify search efforts for missing and abducted persons."

The government says it will mandate the SQ to collaborate with municipal and Indigenous police forces, increase forensic laboratory resources and grant additional funding to organizations supporting families of missing persons.

But Jean Rousselle, Liberal public security critic, says those changes are coming too slowly. 

"Nothing has been corrected, as we speak. If a child or someone is lost, there is not a specialized unit to lead the search, because it was dismantled," said Rousselle.

'It should never happen again' 

Earlier this week, the girls' mother, Amélie Lemieux, called on Guibault to step in and ensure a full investigation is launched. 

Guilbault said that she had heard Lemieux's "heartfelt pleas" and said she "deserves answers to her questions."

"All information will be public, and I hope this will give her the answers that she is looking for," said Guilbault.

Lemieux said Wednesday, it was a relief to know that she will finally have the full truth about her daughters' deaths. 

"But I would be lying to myself if I said that this was sufficient. I wish I didn't have to keep digging and begging. I would have liked it if, from day one of the investigation, 21 months ago, [the truth] had come out," Lemieux said. 

"There are mistakes that were made. It should never happen again. I would never wish what I've gone through upon any parent," she said.

Guilbault said she had not yet spoken with Lemieux personally, but said she was open to meeting her. 

In response, Lemieux said she wished the minister's office had reached out to her personally, instead of her having to follow media reports like everyone else. 

"I know she has busy days, but what would it have taken to send someone to say, 'Mme. Lemieux, we have heard you,'" said Lemieux.

She said she would be waiting for the minister's call.