'Absolute garbage': Sask. physician blasts plans to add involuntary addictions treatment
CBC
A Moose Jaw physician says the Saskatchewan government should not enact a law that could force people suffering from addictions into treatment.
Dr. Karissa Brabant read out a Facebook post from Premier Scott Moe announcing the Compassionate Intervention Act at a session during the Saskatchewan Medical Association's fall assembly Friday in Saskatoon.
“Bullshit,” the Moose Jaw doctor said while asking a question of Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill. “This is absolute garbage. The reason this is garbage is because the very central tenet of ethics in medicine is patient autonomy, the ability of a patient to choose what happens to them.”
Brabant, who works with homeless people and those suffering from addictions at a clinic in Moose Jaw, said forced treatment will fail and waste money. Many of the hundreds of delegates attending the event applauded her short speech.
Cockrill replied that the province’s main focus is on recovery achieved through voluntary treatment. He said those needing forced treatment represent “a very, very small subset of the population.”
Cockrill repeated Moe’s assertion that forced treatment would apply to people who pose harm to themselves or others.
He told reporters later Friday that his conversations with other health ministers have revealed that every province is struggling with how to tackle addiction treatment. British Columbia has backtracked to include the possibility of involuntary care, Cockrill said.
The government is still listening to “addiction experts” on its approach, he said.
“What we’ve heard from Saskatchewan people, what we’ve heard from Saskatchewan families is that they want more avenues for their family members to get into recovery, to get into treatment,” Cockrill said.
Cockrill said the government has heard from “several” physicians who support involuntary addiction treatment.
But Brabant said success in treating addiction requires someone who is willing to seek care.
Patient autonomy is enshrined in the Canada Health Act, she added.
“Nobody can force anybody to undergo treatment that they do not believe in or do not want,
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after an officer involved shooting at Danforth Go station early Saturday morning, said Toronto police.
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.