The B.C. government is introducing changes to the Mental Health Act to provide stronger legal protection to workers providing involuntary care.
Premier David Eby said health-care workers need that protection to treat patients because of an ongoing court challenge.
That challenge, working its way through the courts for nearly 10 years and having recently concluded the trial stage, aims to stop the province from forcing treatment such as medication or electroshock therapy on people who are held involuntarily.
At issue in that case is the Mental Health Act’s “deemed consent” provision, which says that if a patient is held involuntarily, they cannot refuse psychiatric treatments.
Eby said that while this legislation will protect workers, it will not make the outcome of that legal challenge irrelevant. He also said this new legislation will mean new arguments will need to be made in the case.
More to come.
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