Calls to boost mental health support following Kelowna bridge police incident – Okanagan [Video]

Two mental health crises on the same day — one closed down Kelowna, B.C.’s W.R. Bennet Bridge and the other injured three RCMP officers.

Following the Jan. 27 incidents, B.C. Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko is making calls to change how the provincial government approaches mental health.

“It’s clear that the services that are available in the province currently are insufficient,” said Sturko.

Sturko, a former RCMP officer who spent 13 years with the force, says that  RCMP should not be handling mental health crises.

“The reality is that police are responding to something way down the stream, we need to look at the previous year, or even years leading up to a serious crisis or a big public safety incident and look at what the failures in the system of mental health and health care were,” said Sturko.

“[We need to] really address it before it becomes a crisis that police …