Involuntary mental health care must be ’dignified and humane,’ B.C. premier says

David Eby says there's still a place for involuntary care in B.C., but "warehousing people" isn't enough

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Published Sep 06, 2024  •  2 minute read

Belongings are scattered on the street as city workers work to clear an encampment on East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., April 5, 2023. Premier David Eby says mental health care in the province for those committed against their will needs to be "dignified and humane" to be effective in the wake of a deadly random stranger attack in downtown Vancouver this week. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Premier David Eby says mental health care in the province for those committed against their will needs to be “dignified and humane” to be effective, as his government works on a strategy about involuntary care.

Eby, speaking after a deadly random stranger attack in downtown Vancouver this week, says the 2012 closure of Riverview mental health hospital in Coquitlam put vulnerable people on the streets without adequate supports.

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He says he saw people struggle with mental health, brain injuries and drug addiction while working on the Downtown Eastside, watching them “go downhill and die.”

Eby says there’s still a place for involuntary care in B.C., but “warehousing people” isn’t enough and any measures taken to address the needs of people in mental health crises must be “humane and respectful.”

Vancouver’s Chief Constable Adam Palmer said this week that police were looking into whether mental health was a factor in two stranger attacks on Wednesday that killed 70-year-old Francis David Laporte, and severed another man’s hand.

Brendan Colin McBride, 34, has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

Speaking at an election campaign event in Vancouver on Friday, Eby said the province was working with chief scientific adviser for psychiatry Dr. Daniel Vigo on a system of care to address both community safety concerns and the needs of people in mental distress.

Eby said involuntary mental health care required a “full solution,” which entailed having the mental health professionals who can provide care and supportive programs to allow them to deliver it.

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He said it was up to Vigo to “knit all these pieces together,” and said more information about such a plan will come next week.

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