Action Autonomie, the collective for the defense of mental health rights in Montreal, wishes to react to the comments made by Martine Landry in her testimony published on March 30.
It is not a question here of minimizing the difficulties experienced by the relatives of certain people with mental health diagnoses. However, we are convinced that authoritarianism and the repression of the fundamental freedoms of the people concerned solve nothing and aggravate their discomfort, in particular by deteriorating the therapeutic relationship necessary for their return to balance.
We have also produced detailed portraits of the use of Bill P-38, the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to othersby Montreal healthcare establishments since it came into effect in 19982. We have observed a constant increase in the number of requests (1500 in 1999, more than 5000 in 2022) as well as an increase in the duration of custody authorizations obtained (the current standard is 30 days).
In addition, we observed systematic violations of the law by the establishments, in particular with regard to the duration of preventive confinement, for which the authorization of the court is not required.
In many cases, the person concerned is neither present in court nor represented by a lawyer. The hearing on his custody in an establishment is then expedited in four or five minutes and the request is almost always granted by the court.
The solution to the real problem raised by Mr.me Landry does not reside in preventive deprivations of freedoms or reliefs which would allow an even more frequent recourse to confinement in an establishment. It seems to us to go much more through the continued development of psychosocial and alternative resources that take into account the whole of the person’s life rather than just their diagnosis and that use tools other than pharmaceutical medication alone.
These resources exist, they have proven themselves. All that remains is to give them the means and the autonomy necessary for the full accomplishment of their mission.