A decision not to charge a police officer who killed a five-year-old boy while driving over the speed limit has exposed a lack of transparency in the way Quebeckers are informed about deaths involving police.

Justice officials in the province are under no legal obligation to explain why the Sûreté du Québec officer will not be charged after he allegedly exceeded the posted speed limit by 72 kilometres an hour while on routine business in a Montreal suburb and struck a car, killing the child in the back seat.

In other provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, 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.
 

Justice officials in the province are under no legal obligation to explain why the Sûreté du Québec officer will not be charged after he allegedly exceeded the posted speed limit by 72 kilometres an hour while on routine business in a Montreal suburb and struck a car, killing the child in the back seat.