Earlier this month, there were two horrific stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver. One victim died, while another’s hand was cut off. A 34-year-old man was arrested.
“This appears to be a very troubled man, who has a lengthy history of mental health related incidents which have resulted in more than 60 documented contacts with police throughout Metro Vancouver,” VPD Chief Constable Adam Palmer said at a news conference after the arrest.
In the days since the attacks, several voices have spoken out suggesting it may be time to reopen a mental health facility, like Riverview, a controversial hospital which closed in 2012.
“Most people suffering from mental health issues in our community will never have any contact with the police, there are many people that we have compassion for with mental health issues that we want to see get help and get on a better path, but there are also people with mental health issues who are extremely dangerous that we need to be afraid of and that we need to have institutionalized,” Palmer said.
I’m not sure institutionalization or involuntary care is the right solution, but I am sure that people should feel safe to walk down the street without fear of being randomly attacked.
While Palmer said unprovoked stranger assaults in 2024 are half of what they were last year and the trend over the past few years is downward, it seems we hear of them more often.
A year ago, a man on a day pass from a psychiatric facility stabbed three people at a festival in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Just weeks before that, there was a triple stabbing on Granville Street.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim spoke after Palmer and said more violent-crime news conferences will happen if action and funding from the province and federal government don’t come through to address gaps in mental health care.
Every single town and city in this country is facing a mental health crisis, Sim said.
The Union of BC Municipalities has several resolutions on their books for their convention next week to advocate for more resources for mental health, such as family doctors, walk-in clinics, community health centres, affordable housing, harm reduction sites, detox and treatment facilities and more mental health liaison RCMP officers.
People in Metro Vancouver with good mental and physical health are challenged to secure housing, find a family doctor and afford groceries. I cannot imagine how hard it is for people with mental illnesses or opioid addictions to fulfil these basics of life.
What’s the solution? What’s the humane thing to do?
If I was facing mental health problems, or someone I loved was, I would hope for compassionate care in a safe haven, somewhere warm with wholesome food and supportive care providers who could manage medication or other treatments. I would hope there wasn’t a waiting list and that care would be easily accessible. Of course, if they were a danger to themselves or others, their freedoms would have to be compassionately curtailed.
Even better would be access to adequate health care to ease mental health challenges before they get out of control.
Rather than a safe haven, statistics show many people with mental health challenges end up in jail — the last place someone in a mental health crisis should be. But at the same time, people need to be able to walk around in the knowledge they are safe in their city.
Involuntary care has been raised as a possibility, but it seems bizarre to me that we would consider involuntary care when we don’t have adequate voluntary care for things such as drug treatment or even regular family doctor appointments. The spectre of involuntary care would also create a lack of trust between people with mental health problems and healthcare professionals, which could mean delayed treatment and more serious issues.
A focus on the basics – making sure people have a safe home, adequate food and access to a family doctor – will go much further than reopening a psychiatric facility or instituting involuntary care. Studies, such as At Home/Chez Soi, have shown that providing people with a place to live and other support is a good investment in society and leads to other positive and unexpected outcomes.
We don’t know what motivated those downtown attacks or whether having some fundamental, humane support could have prevented them. But what we do know is that basic human rights should be attainable for all.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
