B.C.’s health minister has been given a mandate to further the province’s promise to expand involuntary care for those with addictions and severe mental health problems.
Premier David Eby announced last year that his government would look to develop involuntary treatment facilities. Since winning the October 2024 election and forming government, Eby has directed his health minister, Josie Osborne, to move forward with the plans in a mandate letter dated Jan. 16, 2025.
Involuntary treatment is permitted under the provincial Mental Health Act.
The letter directs Osborne to support the work of the chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs, and concurrent disorders. Dr. Daniel Vigo was put into that position in the summer of 2024.
His job was to work with partners to find ways to support those with severe addictions, brain injuries as a result of drug poisoning, and mental health disorders.
Eby has also asked his health minister to work with addiction health professionals and epidemiologists to look for research on interventions for those with addiction and implement best practices in the area.
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Osborne is also being called upon to build a “seamless system of care” for those looking for mental health and addiction services in B.C., both inpatient and outpatient solutions.
In September 2024, Eby’s NDP government announced it would open “highly secure” facilities for those with mental health issues, and similar treatment through BC Corrections.
Surrey Pretrial Services Centre is to be the first correctional centre developed. The first secure housing and care facility was designated to be at the Alouette Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge.
“This announcement is the beginning of a new phase of our response to the addiction crisis,” Eby said at the time. “We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would. We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”
The opposition Conservatives say more action is needed, and have also called for more details to be made public about how the involuntary care treatment will work.
“It’s very disappointing to see the premier sharing so little about the criteria that they plan on using, and why is that he has begun by placing these involuntary care beds in the correctional system,” B.C. Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, the shadow minister for public safety, told The Epoch Times.
Sturko said what has been announced so far is a “drop in the bucket.”
“The only promise that we have right now is for 10 beds in Surrey Pretrial and another cluster of beds in a secure housing at Alouette Correctional Facility.”
The province previously said it plans to build more than 400 mental health beds at hospitals around B.C. It included modernizing about 280 outdated beds and adding more than 140 beds. These facilities will provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act.
In addition, Minister Osborne has also been asked to find ways to reduce the amount of prescribed opioids through the development of safeguards to prevent the diversion of the medication. She has also been mandated to reduce the number of prescriptions by working with health care providers.
Reversing Decriminalization
Eby announced the new direction for tackling addictions and mental health issues in September 2024.
It was a move away from the province’s previous approach of decriminalization of some illegal drugs, such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
B.C. had started what was to be a three-year pilot of decriminalization in January 2023, following approval from Health Canada.
However, in 2024, B.C. made a request that Health Canada reverse the exemption the province had been given that allowed for the decriminalization of these substances.
The premier told reporters in April 2024 that the province still supported caring for those with addiction, but that urgent changes were needed to the program to stop public use of drugs.
Decriminalization in B.C. had resulted in complaints about public drug use in spaces such as parks, hospitals, and public transportation.
