The NDP spent years denying the need for life-saving mandatory care. Now, they are scrambling to catch up. 
The mental health and addiction crisis continues to devastate lives across British Columbia, yet families are being told they must wait until 2027 and 2028 before these new facilities even begin opening. Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena and Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Addictions and Housing Supports, issued the following statement following today's announcement of new mandatory care facilities in Prince George and Surrey: “Families, front-line workers, police, healthcare professionals and advocates have been calling for investments in mandatory care for years.” "Unfortunately, while it’s a step in the right direction, today's announcement is also a reminder of how long British Columbians have been waiting for these life-saving measures. The NDP spent years dismissing calls for mandatory care before reversing course only after it became impossible to ignore the consequences of failed policies like decriminalization and prescribed alternatives without adequate treatment.” "Even now, implementation is moving far too slowly. Those struggling with mental illness and addiction need mandatory care now." The new 72-bed facility in Prince George is expected to begin opening in late 2027, with full completion by the end of 2028. The newly announced 60-bed Surrey facility is also not expected to open until spring 2028. "People experiencing severe mental illness and addiction cannot wait another two years. Every month of delay means more families watching loved ones deteriorate, more preventable deaths, more victimization, and more people cycling between emergency departments, shelters, correctional facilities and the streets." Rattée also pointed to the limited progress made since the government's first mandatory care announcement at the Surrey Pretrial Centre in June 2025. "More than a year after the Surrey Pretrial program was announced, only around 60 people have gone through treatment. Every person who receives care matters, but that number also illustrates just how slowly this system is being built despite the scale of the crisis facing British Columbia." She also questioned why no new mandatory care facility has been announced for Vancouver, despite the city being a nexus for the overlapping mental health and addiction crisis. "It's difficult to understand why Vancouver, the epicentre of this crisis and home to the Downtown Eastside, still has no dedicated mandatory care facility. If we're serious about helping people with the most severe and complex illnesses, Vancouver shouldn’t be left out." Rattée also renewed her call for the long-promised second Red Fish Healing Centre. "The government promised British Columbians a second Red Fish Healing Centre years ago. That facility remains unbuilt while patients with the most complex psychiatric and addiction needs continue to wait. These are individuals who require specialized, long-term treatment, and every year of delay has real consequences for patients, families and communities." Rattée said the government must go further and build a comprehensive system of care to address mental health and addiction. "Mandatory care is one part of the solution, but it must be backed by significantly more voluntary treatment, psychiatric beds, detox, supportive housing and long-term community supports. The government has finally acknowledged what many of us have been saying for years. Now it needs to move with the urgency this crisis demands."