Duplessis orphans

In Quebec between the 1930s and 1960s, thousands of children in state care were considered "mentally deficient" and placed in institutions led by religious communities for the most part. This practice, encouraged by the administration of Maurice Duplessis mainly because it allowed for obtaining federal subsidies, had adverse consequences for children, who were often victims of abuse and stigmatized when they became adults. The Rapport de la commission d’étude des hôpitaux psychiatriques, published in 1962, shed light on the problem and helped put an end to it. The "Duplessis Orphans" started legal proceedings in the 1990s and accepted the provincial government’s offer of compensation in 2001.