B.C. opening 18 long-term involuntary care beds in Metro Vancouver
British Columbia's government has created 18 new beds at a Metro Vancouver mental health facility dedicated to long-term involuntary care.
Health Minister Josie Osborne says the new beds at Alouette Homes in Maple Ridge, B.C., are designed for people needing involuntary care under the Mental Health Act outside the justice system.
Osborne also says the government is now reviewing the act itself to identify possible service gaps and potential solutions.
The announcement comes after the province announced in April the opening of a 10-unit involuntary-care facility for people with addiction and mental health issues at the Surrey Pretrial Centre.
The Surrey facility is meant to treat people in jail who have a combination of mental health challenges, brain injuries and addiction concerns.
B.C. Premier David Eby said at the time that the unit was meant to stop people continually cycling through the justice system without getting better.
Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.'s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, says the care offered by Alouette Homes will be the first of its kind in the province.
Vigo says the new beds provide an alternative to the current setup, where patients are 'stuck in high-security hospital units indeterminately' because of a lack of other options.
Osborne says the first people to use the new beds will move in as early as next week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Observer
44 minutes ago
- National Observer
BC First Nation builds small island, fisheries officials check for possible habitat damage
A British Columbia First Nation has built up a small artificial island in the tidal shallows of Coles Bay off Vancouver Island, triggering an investigation by fisheries officials into whether it involved habitat destruction and if authorization should have been required. Two yellow excavators could be seen at work last week in the bay, heaping up stones and gravel on top of an existing rock outcrop, in a project the Department of Fisheries and Ocean said was linked to a "clam garden." Nearby resident Richard Smith said he watched dump trucks carry loads of rock to the shore, where the excavators hauled it into the bay, also building a temporary land bridge during the construction process. He said the rock outcrop was previously visible at low tide, but the island is now exposed at all times after the construction, which lasted from May 26 to May 30. The Canadian Press watched the excavators at work on May 30, then saw that they had left the scene later that day. That afternoon, about 20 workers, some wearing outfits with the logo of the Pauquachin First Nation, were on the bay's mud flats spreading what one described as "shell hash." The worker declined to be identified. Shell hash, made of finely ground sea shells, is used in some aquaculture operations to promote growth of mollusks, such as clams. The Department of Fisheries and Ocean was asked by The Canadian Press about the construction last Friday, and on Tuesday the department said in a statement it was "aware of work being undertaken involving excavators and dump trucks to move and stockpile rocks in Coles Bay, BC, to facilitate construction of a clam garden," a traditional form of aquaculture. It said fisheries officers and biologists visited the site on Monday to evaluate the work. "Assessment of the work will determine whether there has been any harmful alternation, disruption or destruction of fish and fish habitat that would require authorization under the Fisheries Act," the statement said, adding that "it would be premature to comment further at this time." Work above the high-water mark occurred on Pauquachin territory, maps show. The First Nation did not respond to questions about the work. But it had previously announced an event in August to build a "traditional sea garden" in Coles Bay, with guests invited to help construct a 250-metre long wall on the tidal flats using "mindfully sourced and prepared rocks" from a quarry. "A traditionally designed sea garden will nurture clam beds, welcome the return of numerous sea life, provide food sustainability, awaken sleeping traditional teachings, harvesting practices and sharing to future generations," a description says on a Pauquachin First Nation website. Shellfish harvesting in Coles Bay was prohibited in 1997 on health grounds because of pollution from septic systems. The Pauquachin First Nation of 423 people along the western shore of the Saanich Peninsula has said the prohibition represents an "infringement" of traditional fishing rights granted under an 1852 treaty. Chief Rebecca David said in a June 2023 letter to the provincial government that government-authorized septic systems represent the "primary source of pollution," calling on Ottawa and Victoria to fulfil obligations under the 1852 treaty by cleaning up the bay so shellfish harvesting can resume. The University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre said in a report attached to David's letter that the closure of shellfish harvesting had deprived families of a critical food source and "failure to redress the pollution" represents "a grievous breach of treaty rights." David's letter calls for the decontamination of Coles Bay to serve as a "pilot project for developing a systemic approach to decontaminating shellfish beaches in British Columbia." The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a statement the province "has supported Pauquachin's efforts to rehabilitate shellfish harvest in Coles Bay through regularly scheduled meetings and other technical support." It did not respond directly to questions about the construction in Coles Bay. The lack of public information about the work has frustrated Smith, who said he is a 'big supporter of reconciliation' and supports 'anything that we can do to assist, co-operate and partner' with First Nations in almost any sphere. "My frustration is really with the enforcement people or the people that are supposed to be governing this, who provide me with no information at all," he said. Smith said this uncertainty is weighing heavily on him given the environmental stakes. "It's the ocean and we all have to protect the ocean," he said. "That's part of our lives … theirs (the First Nation's), everybody's, and I'm constantly out on the beach, cleaning it, pulling tires out of the water." North Saanich Mayor Peter Jones said on Tuesday that neither he nor the council received any notice about the work, but would have to confirm whether the First Nation contacted the municipality. "I know for myself, I have not been contacted," he said, adding the municipality has a "very, very positive and very open" relationship with the First Nation. Jones said he does not know what the First Nation is doing, but said it has been working for a long time with Victoria, Ottawa and the Capital Regional District on restoring clam beds. "This council is very, very hopeful that the (First Nation) can, in fact, restore the clam beds to a level that would make them very, very useful to them," he said. "Again, I hope they are successful, and with regard to what's happening there right now, council and I have no idea." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Teva Canada brand Seasonale tablets recalled for extra placebo pills
Health Canada has issued a recall for a brand of birth control pills after some packages were packed with extra placebo tablets. The agency says the recall covers Seasonale Tablets made by Teva Canada with 0.03 milligrams of ethinylestradiol and 0.15 milligrams of levonorgestrel. Health Canada says anyone with the affected pills should keep taking the pink active pills until the last row of the third tray, which contains white placebo bills. It says anyone with white placebo pills in the first or second tray should not take the white pills and should instead return the product to a pharmacy for a replacement product. People who cannot get to a pharmacy right away is told to take the next pink active pill in the order as noted in the product instructions. Anyone with questions about which pill is the right pill to take is asked to speak with their pharmacist and anyone who took a placebo pill instead of an active pill is advised to use another method of non-hormonal contraception and consult with a health-care professional. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
More than 2K died of opioids in Ontario last year as numbers trend downward: data
More than 2,200 Ontarians died from opioids last year, a 15 per cent decrease from 2023, newly released data from the Office of the Chief Coroner shows. 'What goes through my head is a small degree of optimism in the fact that we have seen less people die last year, which is very good, but that's within a context of 2,231 people dying last year,' Dr. Dirk Huyer, the chief coroner, told The Canadian Press in an interview. His office had recorded 2,639 opioid deaths in 2023. 'I also have a degree of worry that this is a short interval, for whatever reason that we haven't identified, and that the numbers could potentially get worse again,' Huyer said. The mortality rate from opioid overdoses was 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024. That is down from the peak of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when opioids took the lives of 2,880 Ontarians. Story continues below advertisement Fentanyl and its related substances were found in more than 83 per cent of opioid toxicity deaths, while stimulants were found in 69 per cent of deaths. Prescription benzodiazepines were seen in 45 per cent of deaths last year, a sharp increase from 33 per cent the year before. Non-prescription benzodiazepines were found in 62 per cent of deaths, slightly down from 66 per cent in 2023. 2:33 Peterborough health officials applaud AMO stance on Ontario's opioid crisis The opioid crisis began to hit Ontario in 2015 and 2016 when illicit fentanyl made its way east from British Columbia. There were 728 opioid deaths in 2015 and by 2018, that doubled to 1,565 deaths. The crisis peaked in the middle of the pandemic. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, declined a request for an interview about opioid deaths in the province. The Canadian Press has asked him on more than a dozen occasions since 2022 to discuss the opioid crisis but he has never agreed to an interview on the subject. Story continues below advertisement Health Minister Sylvia Jones did not respond to an interview request. The Ministry of Health said the province is 'making it easier for people to break the tragic cycle of addiction by expanding access to safe and comprehensive mental health support.' 'Through Ontario's road map to wellness, the government is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years, and $124 million through the addictions recovery fund, supporting 500 new addiction recovery beds, more than 32 youth wellness hubs, over 100 mobile crisis teams, and innovative models of care like mobile clinics,' the ministry said in a statement. Huyer lamented the fact that the province does not precisely know what's behind the decrease in opioid deaths, but postulated that it could be due to a slightly less toxic supply of drugs. 'I wish we knew because then I think everybody would be able to answer the question on where they should be focusing and how to help provide the best for everybody,' he said. Other hallmarks of the Ontario opioid crisis remain unchanged. Men account for 75 per cent of deaths, opioids disproportionally kill marginalized people and one in five opioid overdose deaths across the province occurs in the homeless population. The province has undergone a fundamental shift in its approach to the opioid crisis, which included banning supervised consumption sites it deemed too close to schools and daycares. That legislation came about after a Toronto woman was killed by a stray bullet from a shooting outside one of the sites. Story continues below advertisement One Toronto consumption site challenged that law in court days before it came into effect on April 1. A judge granted an injunction to allow 10 such sites to remain open while he considers his decision. But nine of the 10 sites had already agreed to transition to the province's new abstinence-based model — homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs — and closed. The province is investing $550 million to fund a total of 28 HART hubs across Ontario, along with 540 new, highly supportive housing units. Liberal health critic Adil Shamji, who still works part time as an emergency department physician and was on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he's disappointed in the province's response. 'But there's no level of disappointment that can approach the level of heartbreak that families across Ontario are experiencing,' he said. The new homelessness and addiction treatment hubs also miss the mark, he said. 'They have no new services to offer and in many cases are underfunded, overwhelmed, and at a very immature stage where they're not able to meet the demand,' Shamji said. He said there's a void of leadership on the file. 'When you have the medical condition that touches on so many different people in so many different walks of life, it speaks to the need for a public health response and for leaders to come out with ambition, boldness and with the seriousness that it deserves,' he said. Story continues below advertisement 'And we're not seeing that from this government, from the minister of health, from public health or the chief medical officer of health.' The Office of the Chief Coroner reported 197 opioid deaths across the province in April, the most recent data available, but stressed that number is very preliminary and will rise since death investigations and toxicology results often taken months to complete.
