CCLA QUESTIONS ALBERTA MENTAL HEALTH AMENDMENTS

In a presentation to an Alberta Legislative Committee, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association argued that, given the absence of stronger procedural protections and more adequate services, the province should not be expanding the grounds for coercive treatment and detention of people with mental disorders. While the Alberta law already allows for the involuntary detention of such individuals who present a danger to themselves or to others, the proposed Bill would expand these grounds significantly. CCLA Freedom of Expression Director Noa Mendelsohn Aviv urged the committee to consider the liberty of the individuals at stake, and avoid such widening of the criteria for coercive intervention

Despite the publicizing of CCLA's views, the Committee's final report recommended expanding the grounds that allow for coerced treatment and detention. Moreover, with the exception of one minor matter, no procedural safeguards were recommended. Mendelsohn Aviv expressed deep concern that this outcome may not only lead to unnecessary losses of liberty, but could even deter people with mental disorders from seeking treatment, out of fear that they may be forcibly confined or subjected to mind-altering drugs.