Indigenous teen speaks out after being forced to isolate 'like a criminal' at Batshaw youth centre

An Indigenous teenager fought back tears as he described being held in isolation for at least three days in a windowless basement room at a youth protection centre in Montreal, and he urged other youths to speak up about their own experiences.

The teenager recounted his ordeal during a news conference Wednesday, months after CBC News reported he had been ordered to self-isolate at a Batshaw Youth and Family Centres group home last May as a COVID-19 precaution.

That week, he went to school, not knowing that it was closed. Once he returned to the group home and told them there were no classes, he was told he would be treated as a COVID-19 risk because he had taken too long to come back and his whereabouts were unclear.

He said his cellphone and computer were confiscated, and he was stuck in a room with no windows — just a glass wall separating it from the basement hallway. He said four days went by before he was allowed outside to get some fresh air.

"I have decided to go public now because I finally realize that what they did was horrible and that it's happened to other Indigenous youth, and people of colour in the system, basically all youth. And it's just not right," he said.

"I just want to make it better for them."

The teen did not come into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, but was categorized as a suspected case by an algorithm employed by Batshaw. 

CBC News is not identifying him because he is in the province's youth protection system.

Wednesday's news conference was organized by the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). The non-profit group said it would help the teenager file a complaint with the province's human rights commission, and ask it to open an investigation into how he was treated. 

The teenager said, ultimately, he was removed from isolation after it was ruled he did not have COVID-19. He also said it took days for him to get tested.

"I was clearly [being] punished for coming home late from school, and I was treated like a criminal in prison in solitary confinement," he said.

"This was not about COVID-19."

The Montreal Indigenous Community Network was made aware of the teenager's situation after his teacher stopped by the group home to drop off school supplies and noticed his living conditions.

In an interview, Linda See, the director of youth protection for Batshaw, said a child under the centre's care would never be forced to stay indoors 24 hours per day.