This would require actually having centres for the menatlly ill to be able to access. But the Klein government shut those down, and tossed folks onto the streets back in the bad old debt/deficit hysteria of the ninties. They have created no community programs to deal with the mentally ill and the result is a large number on the streets homeless, or in family settings unable to get treatment. In a province that forces meth users and under age prostitutes into rehab programs this should be a no brainer.
Death of Mountie also prompts calls for improving mental health system
A fatality inquiry report into the 2004 deaths of an RCMP officer and a gunman in Spruce Grove has recommended changes to how Mounties run their emergency response teams and how the mentally ill are treated in Alberta.
The report also made several recommendations for the mental health system in the province. Ayotte recommended legislating community treatment orders in Alberta, which would force uncooperative patients to seek treatment or take medication. So far, such orders are only legal in Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Also, Ayotte wants to see specially-trained police officers and psychiatric workers team up to handle situations where a mentally ill person comes in contact with police. Such a program already exists in Edmonton and plans are underway to expand it into surrounding areas.
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