The Mysterious East

Judge Michael McKee has released his long awaited report on the state of the New Brunswick mental health system. The Telegraph Journal’s Chris Morris reports here. Morris interviewed McKee who told her that in the course of his investigation he heard stories of young, mentally ill people who have killed themselves while on long waiting lists for care in this province, and stories of people who were discharged from hospitals with no place to go and just enough medicine to last for a day. Meanwhile, McKee said too many mentally ill people end up lost and abandoned in the criminal justice system with family members complaining to judges that their relatives were never able to get the care they needed. “It’s not a crime in this country to be sick,” McKee said. At the heart of the problem is a stigma that surrounds mental illness both inside and outside the health care system. The stigma allows people who are sick to be blamed for their illness, and as a result they don’t receive treatment, or even a measure of compassion. The place to begin removing the stigma is in the health care system itself. The report lays out a solid plan for the Liberal government to follow (the report’s weakness may be in its careful judicial language). People are suffering and dying, and we need an immediate response and investment of public dollars. We will be watching for more than talk from the Health Minister. Developing…