B.C.’s New Democrat government is preparing to announce a major investment in mental health and addictions treatment, including stealing a few ideas from a rival plan by the Opposition BC Liberals.
The billion-dollar package hit treasury board for approval on Thursday.
It’s expected to not only boost the number of detox and treatment beds for substance use, but also eliminate all user fees on beds – a key plank of Liberal leader Kevin Falcon’s proposal earlier this month to make treatment free for all who need it during a worsening overdose crisis.
In addition, the NDP are looking to expand the model of treatment used at the Red Fish Healing Centre in Coquitlam to other parts of the province, again, something already proposed by Falcon. The 105-bed facility focuses on people with concurrent severe substance use and mental health issues, allowing them to stay up to nine months. The Liberal plan called for the tripling of beds.
The new addictions treatment package is both an acknowledgement that the NDP has lagged on the issue of addictions treatment for years – despite repeatedly claiming historic investments – and also that the party has found itself stung by the more ambitious plans of its chief political rivals.
Almost 2,300 people died from toxic drugs in 2022, which was only slightly fewer than the record year of deaths in 2021. Critics, including B.C.’s chief coroner, say the province’s current approach is not working.
B.C.’s substance use treatment is currently a complex maze of private beds paid for by users and non-profit-run facilities that receive government funding but can charge up to $45 per day.
New Democrats have been on the defensive for not only under-investing it substance use during six years in power, but for failing to compile even basic facts about how the system works, what the wait lists are, how many beds are free at any given moment, how many people are helped by the existing beds, and what kind of outcomes patients obtain through the treatment process.
Falcon’s $1.5 billion plan to strengthen the system, promised better data – a move Premier David Eby has said he will also follow, and is expected to be part of the provincial budget.
Many groups not normally aligned with the BC Liberals have backed that party’s plan, while criticizing the NDP for failing to address long wait times, gaps and silos in the treatment system.
Falcon has further used the momentum to paint the NDP government as overly-focused on harm reduction measures like safe supply and decriminalization, while under-resourcing the ultimate goal of helping people obtain treatment to get off drugs entirely. The new NDP package aims to counter that narrative.
Falcon has also said he would create a “surge” model for treatment, similar to the health-care system, where government would pay for beds in private facilities if there is a wait list, so no one who wants help is turned away or forced to wait.
The timing of the government investment into addictions treatment also raises questions about the provincial budget, currently set for Feb. 28. Usually, the budget is finalized at least six weeks prior to being tabled in the house. The last-minute rush to treasury board is unusual timing. It comes after the province posted near-record overdose death numbers in 2022.
Eby was asked generally about mental health investments earlier this week, and said he’s working on more.
“We see that, and we understand that, and we are working on that,” he said. “It’s been one of the issues I’ve been talking about, that I've been very proud of our work around doing everything we can to keep people alive so they have the opportunity to access treatment, but that we do have more work to do on the treatment side.”
Eby also took the unusual step of praising the BC Liberal proposal, saying he agrees on the emphasis for strong public treatment.
“I’m glad that the legislature is united on prioritizing this, because I think it's British Columbians’ priorities as well.”
Rob Shaw has spent more than 14 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
