As I mentioned, when parents end up going to the PChAD program in Alberta, it's out of desperation. We have nothing else left in our pocket or tool box. I tried every which way to get Zoe into voluntary treatment. She felt completely blindsided by her substance use and by how it affected her so badly. She didn't want to be a burden on the family because we were dealing with her dad's cancer. She didn't want to cause more harm in that way. We tried several times to get her into voluntary treatment. However, as I said in my testimony, three months is a long time to ask anybody to wait, particularly a youth of 15 or 16 years old. It also means they have to stay abstinent because, for most of these treatments, you need to be abstinent. Asking anybody at the age of 15 or 16, let alone an older person, to be abstinent for that period of time is very complicated.
I applaud Planet Youth. I think that's a very good way to start to have a conversation around youth.
Involuntary care, as I mentioned in my testimony, was horrifying not just for her but also for the rest of the family. I knew when I enacted the court order that I had made a huge mistake, and there was no way I could turn that back. Unfortunately, I saw the ramifications of that. It did much more harm than good.