As Peel Region deals with an ongoing toxic drug crisis, Brampton’s mayor is proposing a controversial idea to Ontario’s government, asking the province to allow for involuntary treatment of people dealing with mental health and addictions issues.
At a news conference Thursday, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown called on the province to implement a pilot project that would allow first responders in Peel Region to put people suffering from severe addictions, mental health disorders and brain injuries in a psychiatric facility against their will — if deemed necessary by a doctor.
That would require changes to the province’s Mental Health Act, something the premier says he could be open to.
Though involuntary treatment has its opponents, with advocates and medical professionals concerned about its efficacy and impact on individual rights, the idea is already being considered seriously in other parts of the country.
In British Columbia, a province that has spent years grappling with one of the country’s worst toxic drug crises, the government announced this weekend it will expand involuntary care for people with mental health and addictions issues. New Brunswick is also mulling the same change.
Brown, who referred to involuntary treatment as “compassionate care,” said Ontario needs to follow suit.
“The approach from British Columbia offers a vital lifeline for those in crisis, helping individuals regain control when addiction obstructs their ability to seek help,” Brown said.
“If someone’s in the midst of a heart attack and is not able to explain they need to go to the hospital, you’re still taking them to the hospital for treatment,” he said.
“There are individuals who are on the verge of fatality that desperately need treatment.”
The Peel Region is becoming overwhelmed with overdoses and emergency health cases caused by toxic drugs and mental health issues, Brown said, noting there have been 705 deaths related to toxic substances in the last five years. He said Brampton is at the epicentre of the region’s crisis.
Since 2010, visits to Brampton’s mental health and addictions emergency department in urgent care have increased 121 per cent, he said. That’s putting more strain on emergency health care and Peel Regional Police, who Brown says have received over 30,000 calls related to mental health and addictions since 2022.
Forced treatment raises legal, medical questions
But the proposal has its detractors.
Over the past year, the Canadian Civil Liberties Union has opposed proposals to implement involuntary treatment in New Brunswick and British Columbia, saying it infringes on individual rights and may even be unconstitutional.
Brown said Thursday he expects involuntary care would be challenged in the courts, but Brampton has done extensive consultations on the issue and he believes it would prevent hundreds of needless deaths.
As the provincial election approaches, the poison drug crisis is top of mind. The B.C. Conservative Party has promised to use involuntary treatment for those experiencing severe addictions if it wins the October election. Tyson Singh Kelsall is a social worker and PhD candidate in SFU’s faculty of health sciences. He joins Dan Burritt to unpack the issues surrounding involuntary treatment.
On Thursday, Dr. David Gratzer, a psychiatrist with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH), told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning that doctors are already able to treat a person against their will in extraordinary circumstances, such as when someone isn’t eating or sleeping or is close to death.
Expanding those powers isn’t the answer, he said, though he commended Brampton for exploring new ways to tackle the crisis. Gratzer said the problem is complex and requires complex solutions.
More investment in mental health and addictions resources is a better start, he said.
“We need to build up the ability of people who want to achieve sobriety to have that option,” he said.
“Let’s build up resources so that somebody today who’s addicted, say, to fentanyl, can get the treatment they want — not in 10 weeks, not in 15 weeks, in 20 weeks — but today.”
Gratzer said more resources and responses to the root causes of mental health disorders, addictions and homelessness would also prevent more deaths.
Brampton Coun. Rowena Santos said Thursday that involuntary treatment would be just one small part of the government’s broader response to the crisis, and only used as a last resort.
“It is critical any policy be paired with broader initiatives addressing the root causes of addiction and homelessness,” Santos said.
“Simply detaining individuals for treatment without tackling the underlying social determinants, such as homelessness, will not result in lasting recovery,” she said.
Province open to idea, but staying course for now
To adopt “compassionate care” in Peel Region, the province would have to make changes to the Mental Health Act.
Asked about involuntary treatment at a news conference Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Michael Tibollo is “a big fan,” and the province is considering it.
“But we have to look into it pretty deep,” he said.
In an emailed statement Thursday, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Minister Tibollo, said the province’s focus “is on creating a system of care that prioritizes connecting people who want treatment to the care, support, and treatment they need, where and when they need it.”
The province recently announced it would spend $378 million to support 19 “Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment hubs” across Ontario, while banning supervised consumption sites near schools and child-care centres.
Mayor Brown said Thursday he believes there are champions of compassionate care within the provincial government, and he’s hoping leaders in the Peel Region, and other Ontario cities grappling with substance-related deaths, can “nudge the government away from the status quo.”