EDITORIALS B.C. is failing the mentally ill

Full credit to provincial court Judge Ernie Quantz for ensuring a repeat violent offender got treatment for his mental illness this week, even threatening to quit if Tyrone Goertzen was simply released from jail without treatment. It worked. Goertzen, whose untreated schizophrenia has led to assaults on a former girlfriend and police, was taken from the courtroom to the Royal Jubilee Hospital and admitted, against his will, under the Mental Health Act.

But the reality is that simply means someone else equally in need of treatment was turned away. The underlying problems — a shortage of mental-health facilities and the lack of any effective strategy to respond to the huge role mental illness plays in our justice system, from street crime to prison populations — were not addressed.

Goertzen is one among many. Since 2009, he has been in court more than two dozen times. He assaulted his former girlfriend, and was ordered to stay away from her. When he didn’t and she called police, he fought with them. He ignored a variety of court-imposed conditions and orders. His homelessness makes treatment and support in taking medication difficult.

“I am satisfied that his mental illness drives his criminal behaviour and, if released without treatment and longterm supervision, he will continue to re-offend and put himself and other innocent people, including the police, at risk,” Quantz summarized.

The issues are undoubtedly complex, including how far society can go in forcing people to accept treatment and medication they don’t want.

But it’s clear that what we are doing now does not work.

The B.C. government says that more than half the people in provincial jails — about 600 on an average day — have mental illness, addictions or both. About 11 per cent of federal inmates have formal mental-illness diagnoses; 15 per cent have spent time in psychiatric wards; and 20 per cent — 3,000 people — are receiving psychiatric medications.

We have turned jails and prisons into warehouses for sick people.

And governments have chosen to save money by not providing needed mental-health and addiction services, which simply increases costs for the courts, police and victims of crime.

People like Goertzen become entrapped in a justice system where they are almost certain to commit more and more crimes. The concepts the system rests on — obey these conditions, for example, or face charges for breaching court orders — have no effect in their world.

It’s a stupid, expensive and destructive way to handle the problem.

We should seize Quantz’s gesture as the impetus for change, recognizing the complexity of the issues. We need a review and plan to provide effective mental-health care, balancing the rights of individuals and the interests of a society.

Perhaps a special legislative committee could be tasked with reviewing the evidence, hearing from patients, police and doctors, and finding solutions. Perhaps an expert panel or the provincial health officer could produce recommendations.

We’re paying a high price for this systemic failure. While it’s important that one judge took a stand, it would be much better if we solved the underlying problems.