BROWN: Involuntary care can stop overdose deaths and save lives
The idea that we can wait for people to hit rock bottom before they seek help is outdated and dangerous
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Canada is in the grips of an addiction crisis that shows no signs of slowing.
The opioid epidemic, fuelled by powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl, has shattered families and claimed thousands of lives.
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But our response has been piecemeal increments that, while well-intentioned, barely scratch the surface.
What we need now is bold action, and one of the most powerful tools we can add to our arsenal is involuntary treatment for individuals whose addictions have rendered them unable to seek help themselves.
This isn’t a left-right issue — it’s a life-and-death issue. Addiction doesn’t discriminate by political affiliation, and neither should our solutions.
The idea that we can wait for people to hit rock bottom before they seek help is outdated and dangerous. When someone is in the throes of addiction, they are often incapable of making rational decisions. The drugs take over, and each day without intervention brings them closer to overdose, homelessness or worse.
Other provinces are waking up to this reality. British Columbia has introduced involuntary care for those suffering from severe addiction and mental health issues. The move has its critics, but it’s grounded in one indisputable fact: For some, the only way out of the spiral of addiction is through intervention, whether they consent to it or not. Ontario should follow suit.
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Between January 2022 and June 2024, Peel Regional Police saw approximately 12,000 apprehensions among nearly 8,000 unique individuals — an average of 5,185 per year, or 14 per day. In many cases, individuals are apprehended multiple times. A total of 1,754 individuals were apprehended more than once during that period, with some experiencing as many as 10 apprehensions or more.
The frequent and repeat nature of these apprehensions suggests that community-based interventions may be ineffective for certain individuals. One individual was apprehended 53 times, taking up nearly 400 service hours. More than 153,970 frontline officer hours have been dedicated to these serious mental health occurrences, equivalent to more than $12 million in officer time. This also includes more than 30,000 hours spent waiting in hospitals and not on the streets keeping community safe and preventing crime.
Overdoses represent another area where a small population has a disproportionate impact on police resources and well-being. Between January 2022 and June 2024, police responded to 1,851 overdose incidents involving approximately 1,500 unique individuals, with 328 of those being tragically fatal. Sadly, many of those who died had prior overdose occurrences which underscores the critical importance of intensive treatment.
As mayor of Brampton, it is my responsibility to protect our most vulnerable citizens by ensuring they receive the care they require, even when they can’t ask for it themselves.
This is why I am calling on the Province of Ontario to create an involuntary treatment pilot project here in Peel. I will bring a motion to Peel Regional Council on Oct. 10, requesting the province to set up a pilot program modelled on British Columbia’s compassionate care framework to help stem the rising tide of preventable overdoses.
We cannot afford to wait any longer. We need to move beyond the Band-Aid solutions currently in place and provide lasting help to people in need. Just as we wouldn’t let someone having a heart attack decide whether to go to the hospital, we should apply the same logic to those facing severe addiction or mental illness.
By launching this pilot, we can tackle the addiction crisis head-on, making our communities safer while supporting those most vulnerable. Every life lost to addiction is a failure of our society to act. We can debate the ethics of involuntary care all we want, but the question we should be asking is this: How many more people need to die before we try something new? Involuntary treatment won’t solve everything, but it can save lives. And right now, that’s what matters most.
The same old approach to addiction overdoses isn’t working. Our residents, business owners and families are calling for bold action, and I believe Peel is ready to answer that call.
Stop overdose deaths. Save lives.
— Patrick Brown is the mayor of Brampton
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