Mental health: the CAQ tables a bill on forced hospitalizations

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government tabled a bill Tuesday to relax the criteria for forcibly hospitalizing a person in crisis.

Health Minister Sonia Bélanger and Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette are scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The bill reflects the promised overhaul of Bill P-38, the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others, adopted more than 25 years ago.

Currently, the authorities can only forcibly hospitalize a person if they pose a “serious and immediate” danger to themselves or others. This criterion does not exist in Ontario.

Last fall, former Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant pledged to modernize the law, while reiterating that the issue was sensitive in terms of human rights.

In the report commissioned by Carmant, the Quebec Institute for Law and Justice Reform said in December that P-38 was a “serious violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals.”

Instead, the institute recommended improving services dedicated to mental health support and accompaniment.

A recent murder in a downtown Montreal convenience store has revived the debate on the application of Bill P-38.

It is reminiscent of that of police officer Maureen Breau, who was killed by an individual in crisis whose aggressive behaviour was reported by members of her family.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Charles Milliard, said he was in favour of relaxing the law in order to prevent tragedies. “We intend to collaborate to expedite this,” he said.

“It’s important that there is a real debate. (…) Now, the government is coming to the end of the road, and then it is stealing it from us. (…) This is not the right way to do it,” lamented Québec solidaire parliamentary leader Ruba Ghazal.

“There are some specialists who have been talking about it for 10 years, so obviously it has to change. Things should have moved earlier,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

In the budget he presented last week, Finance Minister Eric Girard set aside $104.4 million to reform the law and allow for the implementation of measures to improve mental health interventions.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews