After another violent attack in downtown Vancouver, several politicians are speaking out about what they say is a need for action on involuntary mental health care and bail reform.
The attack, which happened at the 7-Eleven on the corner of Robson and Cambie streets on Wednesday, sent two people to hospital, one with a stab wound and the other with facial wounds. The alleged assailant was shot and killed by police.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has not disclosed the identity of the attacker. It also has not provided information on whether he had a criminal history or mental health issues.
But B.C. Premier David Eby is drawing a connection between the assailant’s actions and his possible mental state.
“We don’t know all the details … but I think it’s fairly safe to guess that mental health, addiction, brain injury were components here,” he said.
There’s an urgency to get compassionate care for people who struggle with such issues and who may be prone to violence, Eby said, while also protecting the broader community.
He said the number of people with brain injuries is increasing in B.C. due to the toxic drug crisis, wherein people are surviving overdoses but being left with brain trauma.
The NDP government announced plans in September to expand involuntary care for people with mental health and addiction issues.
Vancouver mayor says he’s angry
Following the stabbing, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is calling for quicker action on involuntary care, as well as bail reform.
However, when asked whether mental health or addiction played a role in the stabbing at 7-Eleven, he told CBC News that it is still under investigation and he “can’t comment on it.”
Wednesday’s stabbing attack in downtown Vancouver has put the spotlight on the province’s promise to expand involuntary care to treat individuals with addiction and mental health issues. As Katie DeRosa reports, Vancouver’s mayor says he’s angry at the lack of urgency.
The attack came on the heels of what police said were two unprovoked, random attacks by the same man in downtown Vancouver in early September. One man was killed and another had his hand severed.
Sim said he’s angry about the incidents and accused the province and Ottawa for not acting quickly enough. No one, he said, should be afraid to walk the streets of downtown Vancouver.
“The anger comes in the sense that we already knew that incidents like this would happen again if senior levels of government didn’t step up,” he told CBC News on Thursday.
Violent crime is down
Violent crime and overall crime is decreasing in the city, according to the VPD.
The force’s Public Safety Indicators Report for the third quarter of 2024 showed violent crime in the city was down 6.8 per cent from the same time period last year.
But Sim said stats alone are not reassuring.
“We can talk about how crime is down, violent assaults are down, but when these things happen, they’re jarring and they really impact the entire community,” he said.
The NDP’s plan for involuntary care includes highly secure facilities — starting with the Surrey Pretrial Centre and the Alouette Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge — where people apprehended under the Mental Health Act can be detained.
Sim said he supports that idea but doesn’t think it is rolling out fast enough.
“They [the province] announced that they’re going to add more beds for mandatory compassionate care. We need them now. We can’t wait six to 12 months for them.”
Premier understands frustration
Eby said he understands Sim’s frustration.
“It’s a horrible attack and it’s really corrosive to people’s sense of safety in communities,” he said.
The province should have beds open at Alouette and the Surrey Pretrial Centre in the spring, he added.
“As we get that model down, we’ll be able to deploy across the province to provide the support that people need,” Eby said.
Despite the political push, researchers say it’s still unclear whether involuntary care for addiction is effective. There is no high quality evidence as to whether or not involuntary treatment works, according to research published in the Canadian Journal of Addictions in 2023.
The journal looked at 22 studies comparing involuntary and voluntary treatment for substance use disorders and found 10 studies reported negative outcomes with involuntary treatment, five reported non-significant findings and seven reported improvements, mostly around treatment retention.
The B.C. premier’s pledge to expand a proposal for involuntary care is getting mixed reviews. As the election draws near, David Eby promised 400 beds for people suffering from severe mental health issues who have been detained under the Mental Health Act. The move comes amid growing concerns over a series of random attacks by mentally ill individuals. As CBC’s Jon Hernandez reports, many agree that action needs to be taken but are divided on whether involuntary care is the best approach.
‘Big step backwards’
Elenore Sturko, the B.C. Conservatives’ public safety critic, said Eby’s proposed model will only help people after they’ve committed a violent offence.
“Relying solely on someone being in corrections in order to get help doesn’t really help the community or the individual because you have to wait for someone to get in trouble before they’re helped,” she said.
She also questioned Eby’s plan to have the beds in prison, saying people should be helped in a “medically centred program.”
Drug policy activists have also spoken out against the plan.
Garth Mullins of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users said in September that mandatory care is “a big step backwards.”
He said the province has tried involuntary care in the past, “but what we’ve learned is it doesn’t work.” He’s also concerned it will make people afraid to ask their doctors for support.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be feeling very good going to my methadone doctor if I know that she has the power to lock me up if she doesn’t like the progress I’m making,” he said.
“So, we should build a voluntary treatment [system] that opens the door for people before we build a system of involuntary treatment that locks it behind them.”
Vancouver’s mayor said he also wants to see action from Ottawa. Earlier this year he and several other Metro Vancouver mayors asked for bail reform for repeat violent offenders, as well as federal funding to shore up the province’s involuntary care program.
“It’s been silent. It has been crickets. It’s been 79 days since we made that request and nothing from the federal government. And that’s where I get really angry,” Sim said.
Wednesday’s stabbing remains under investigation by VPD. The incident is also being investigated by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., which is called in to examine officers’ actions or inactions anytime a police-involved incident results in serious harm or death.