B.C Premier David Eby speaks during a news conference about improving access to mental-health and addiction care for people in the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, on Friday, May 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s premier says the province will be opening secure facilities to provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for people with severe addictions.
David Eby says the first site, which will provide care for people who also have mental illness and brain injuries, will open in Maple Ridge on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre “in the coming months” with plans to expand throughout the province
A government statement says the NDP would make changes to the law in the next legislative session to “provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves.”
The premier’s promise comes a week before the official launch of the provincial election campaign and three months after he appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo is B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.
The government says it will be releasing “clarifications” from Vigo on how he believes the Mental Health Act can be used to provide voluntary and involuntary care when people have disorders alongside addiction.
Eby says the province will also be setting up a designated mental-health unit in a B.C. correctional centre, starting with a 10-bed facility at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre to provide rapid treatment for people with mental-health and addiction challenges being held in custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024
