BC’s mental health act under fire
Posted January 12, 2013 10:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The case of a convicted pet killer, who is the subject of a BC Corrections warning, has raised questions about the province’s Mental Health Act.
The judge in her case wondered if there might be grounds to detain Kayla Bourque.
In his decision, provincial court judge Malcolm MacLean writes that Bourque’s personality disorder would appear to bring it within the language of the Mental Health Act.
However, the court deferred to the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission, which found Bourque does not suffer from a mental disorder since she was not diagnosed as psychotic.
SFU criminology professor Rob Gordon says the Act focuses on treatable psychiatric disorders. “A personality disorder is generally not treatable.”
Gordon says experts don’t consider her condition a mental disorder and that is an important distinction.”The Mental Health Act in particular is concerned with psychiatric disorders, and more particularly, treatable psychiatric disorders.”
Bourque plans to live in Vancouver.
