One Year Later

By Carol deDelley

Can Schizophrenics be treated?

Yes.

Cured?

No.

Should they be released to live in the community?

No. Not if they have taken a life.

For all violent offenders, time detained needs to fit the offence committed. If an individual takes a life that individual needs to lose their freedom for the rest of their life.


Mentally ill individuals are the most vulnerable of society (next to children). Mentally ill individuals who are seeking treatment and have committed no crime, should not be housed with criminally insane, extremely violent offenders. In fact, that possibility may even prevent some with mental illness from seeking treatment. Canada needs to build a facility to house the criminally insane where the psychiatric community can treat them and study them for the rest of their lives.


Currently, the only person responsible for a "very disturbed' individuals care, treatment and medication, is that individual. Society cannot force them into treatment nor can society force medicate them. They ARE responsible for themselves. Until they fail to comply, do something this heinous and then they are NOT responsible! They cannot and should not, have it both ways. N.C.R means NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE, it also means NO CRIMINAL RECORD! These offenders are then removed from the criminal system and placed in the medical system where they are then referred to as patients not criminals. That is unbelievable and unacceptable!. They have committed the most serious of crimes.


The rights of the victims and their families needs to be considered not discarded in favor of the "patients" rights. The family has the right (at their own expense) to attend yearly reviews of the offender's mental state,(not easy if they move the offender to another province) They also have the right to submit a victim's impact statement,( which is subject to being censored). The review board is disinclined to allow the submission of an impact statement at subsequent reviews, from anyone who has not submitted one at the offenders first review hearing. Many are too traumatized to prepare one for the first review board hearing. Canada needs to send a message that this is not ok and will not be tolerated


Timothy McLean had rights too. Tim's Law is about Public Safety. Tim's voice died tragically with him that evening last July. We all need to be his voice now and the voice of so many that died too soon at the hands of Schizophrenics and others who are found NCR. M