Premier David Eby says his government is "on track" to open facilities in Surrey and Maple Ridge as part of its involuntary care program under the provincial Mental Health Act. 

Surrey Pretrial Services Centre will host 10 beds to treat individuals with mental-health and addiction challenges being held in custody, while Maple Ridge's Alouette Correctional Centre (Monarch Homes) will host 20 beds for individuals needing long-term care and housing.

Speaking Tuesday, (Jan. 7), at his first media availability of 2025, Eby says two facilities scheduled to open in the spring are "modest-sized" considering the "demand and the need that is out there." 

But Eby adds that they will serve as "templates for a significant expansion" of involuntary care first announced in mid-September of 2024 as part of a "new phase" of B.C.'s response to the opioid addiction crisis. 

Eby says it is "urgent" for the province to support individuals who are "struggling with serious mental health issues" as well as brain injuries and addictions. 

"We can see people struggling in our streets as well as in some cases involved in very violent and scary incidents," he says. These comments allude to two stranger attacks in Vancouver in early September 2024 that left one man dead and another man seriously injured. 

Eby, who previously opposed involuntary care, but later appointed UBC's Daniel Vigo as B.C.B次元官网网址檚 first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, says it is "critically important" for impacted individuals to receive the care they need while protecting the community at large.

"So we are full speed ahead on that project (involuntary care)," he says. 

Government, meanwhile, has backed down from plans to limit drug use in the public by repealing the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act first passed in November 2023.

The legislation removed by a Dec. 19 order-in-council has been the object of a long-running legal dispute since December 2023. That is when Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson of the B.C. Supreme Court temporarily blocked it because it B次元官网网址減oses a sufficiently high probability of irreparable harmB次元官网网址� by pushing drug users into places where it would be less safe to consume drugs.

The law itself was a response to public concerns about the effects of B.C.'s three-year-long decriminalization trial of certain drugs underway since Jan. 31, 2023. Government efforts in 2024 to repeal the injunction first filed by the Harm Reduction Nurses Association B次元官网网址� which also challenged the legislation on constitutional grounds -B次元官网网址� failed.  

Government also points to a changed context. A statement from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General says the province worked with Health Canada to change the decriminalization pilot, making it clear that public drug use is not legal. 

According to the ministry, people can now only possess drugs in private residences or designated health-care sites, such as overdose prevention, drug-checking, or addiction treatment service locations. The changes also include an exception for homeless individuals in legal overnight sheltering locations.

The statement adds these changes restrict the use of drugs in all the places the provincial legislation was planning to cover. It adds that this means that the need for the legislation had ended. 

The government declined to describe the legal advice it had received from lawyers about the viability of its case, noting legal advice is privileged information. 

When asked if the decision to repeal was legal one or political, the ministry's statement says the legislation has been the subject of a legal injunction since late 2023, then points to the Health Canada changes.

The statement notes the repeal itself does not require legislation, adding that government remains committed to doing everything it can to save lives and to keep communities safe for everyone.

B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General says "signs of progress" in the fight against the opioid addiction crisis are starting to appear.

"If people encounter drug use in inappropriate places, police are available to enforce the rules and help to connect individuals to support services."