Advocates and legal experts who deal with the mentally ill are expressing strong opposition to a suggestion by Windsor’s mayor that involuntary treatment is a way to address a burgeoning mental health and addiction crisis in Canadian cities.
“How do we have leadership that is engaging in an almost draconian mentality?” said Windsor criminal defence lawyer Patricia Brown, who specializes in mental health law.
“This was the law in the ’70s and the ’60s where people were apprehended and locked away in institutions, and it wasn’t working,” she told the Star. “The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is there because we deal with the fundamental freedoms of all members of society.
“Everyone has rights. These are still people.”
Share: