British Columbia will be opening secure facilities to provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for those with severe addictions who are mentally ill and have sustained a brain injury, the premier announced Sunday just days ahead of the start of a provincial election campaign.

David Eby pledged a re-elected NDP would change the law in the next legislative session to 91裸聊视频減rovide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves.91裸聊视频�

Eby told a news conference in Vancouver that involuntary help would be aimed at people struggling with overlapping addictions, mental illness, and brain injury concerns who are not able to ask for help for themselves.

91裸聊视频淔or people with these three overlapping conditions, we know that the current response that we offer is not adequate,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淚t is costly for people struggling with these conditions. They are not safe, and increasingly, I91裸聊视频檓 concerned that the way that they are interacting in our communities is making everybody less safe.91裸聊视频�

The premier91裸聊视频檚 promise comes ahead of Saturday91裸聊视频檚 anticipated launch of the provincial election campaign, in which concerns about the toxic drug crisis are expected to play a significant role, and three months after he appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as B.C.91裸聊视频檚 first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.

Vigo said Sunday that most people with addictions in British Columbia are not mentally impaired and are able to seek help voluntarily.

91裸聊视频淗owever, the system breaks down if services operate under the assumption that all the patients should be able to actively seek help, endure taxing intake processes where comorbidity is not considered, input from providers 91裸聊视频� is not valued, and impairments affecting their ability to consent become an exclusion criteria,91裸聊视频� he said.

Vigo said that in order for a person to be treated involuntarily under the act, they currently have to have a mental disorder that leaves them unable to interact safely with others and regulate their own behaviour.

Eby said the province91裸聊视频檚 hospitals interpret the current Mental Health Act inconsistently, so Vigo will be sending out clarifications on how it can be applied in cases involving addiction before the legislation is formally changed.

Eby said the first site providing care for those with addictions, mental illness and brain injuries will open in Maple Ridge on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre 91裸聊视频渋n the coming months,91裸聊视频� adding there are plans to expand throughout the province.

This is not the first time the B.C. government has proposed involuntary care for youth with addictions.

In 2022, a plan that would have forced youth to undergo treatment for up to seven days after an overdose was scrapped following public criticism.

Eby said Sunday he understands the concern that youth might be less likely to ask for help if they fear being taken to treatment against their will.

91裸聊视频淪o these are the things we91裸聊视频檙e trying to balance as a society. It91裸聊视频檚 incredibly challenging, and our goal is to work with 91裸聊视频� the experts in this area, because I think that we need to keep revisiting these decisions and make sure that they91裸聊视频檙e taking us in the right direction,91裸聊视频� he said.

Last week, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said if elected, he would introduce legislation to allow for involuntary treatment and build secure facilities.

In a statement Sunday, Rustad said Eby was being inconsistent and 91裸聊视频渇lip-flopping91裸聊视频� after years of not acting on the issue.

B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau accused Eby in a separate statement of following 91裸聊视频淛ohn Rustad off every reactionary cliff91裸聊视频� and said she was concerned about an over-reliance on involuntary care.

Furstenau said the province already has thousands of people receiving some form of involuntary treatment annually.

91裸聊视频淲here are the investments in prevention and addressing the root causes of what we91裸聊视频檙e seeing in our communities? There91裸聊视频檚 also no focus on long-term, community-based care after discharge,91裸聊视频� she said.

A government statement said the NDP is building more than 400 mental-health beds at new and expanded hospitals in B.C. by modernizing approximately 280 outdated beds and adding more than 140 new ones 91裸聊视频渨ith more to come.91裸聊视频�

It says all of these facilities will also provide both voluntary and involuntary care under the act.

The announcement comes after a series of stranger attacks in the province alleged to have been committed by those who are mentally ill.

A man was arrested earlier this month in Vancouver for separate attacks that left one man dead and another with a severed hand. Police later said the suspect had a history of mental illness.

Eby said 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 who are being held in custody.