On Dec. 12th a court decided that child killer Guy Turcotte can be released from the Philippe Pinel Institute effective immediately. On February 20th 2009 the former cardiologist stabbed his children (Anne Sophie, 3 and Olivier, 5) to death. Then in July of 2011 Turcotte was found not criminally responsible for the gruesome murders.

As citizens of Quebec this case can be used to teach us a little something about our province’s justice system. More specifically Turcotte’s personal experience illustrates how a person can kill two human beings, spend less than four years in a psych hospital, and then walk away a free man. Some of these lessons include:

> Be a white, French speaking, educated male, preferably with a medical degree

> Let in be known that you and your spouse are having marital problems

> Before the actual murders down a shot of windshield washer fluid; make sure it’s just enough to injure yourself but not cause any serious harm

> Savagely kill your victims

> Have a jury find you not criminally responsible because you were upset about your crumbling marriage

> Serve a few years in a mental facility but no jail time

> Complete a token amount of psychotherapy

Despite the fact that the mental institution panel commissioner maintains that you ‘still pose a risk’ get yourself released and put the nasty murders behind you

* Note: This scenario illustrates how strange life in Quebec can be. The PQ government has declared that their paramount priority is to protect the French language not necessarily the Quebec public. With this being said in the event that an Anglophone is caught putting up an English only sign they can expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (unlike Guy Turcotte). So to conclude; in Quebec a former doctor can kill his kids and in no time walk away free, however, anyone found guilty of posting a sign in English risks facing the wrath of the OLF. The powers that be in Quebec have clearly drawn a line in the sand. Child killers may walk unencumbered down our streets but anyone posting an English sign on those same streets will be hunted down, punished, and treated like the socially repugnant criminal the PQ thinks you are.