B.C. full speed ahead on involuntary care, aims to open 2 facilities by spring [Video]

Premier David Eby says the government is on track to open two secure “involuntary care” sites by the spring.

The use of involuntary care to treat people with severe mental health, brain injury and addiction problems was among Eby’s key campaign promises to address growing concerns about repeat offenders and public safety.

Speaking Tuesday, Eby said facilities at the Surrey Pretrial Centre and at the Alouette Correctional Facility in Maple Ridge will be the first such centres to come online.

“These are modest size facilities considering the demand and the need that is out there,” he said. “However, they are the template for a significant expansion of this work.”

The Eby government hired Dr. Daniel Vigo as the province’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and brain injury last summer. Opening the new facilities is a part of Vigo’s mandate, with a goal to have them running by May.

“We are full speed …