Good afternoon and thank you for providing me with this opportunity.
Today I represent many victims of NCR offenders as I call upon members of the House of Commons of Canada, regardless of what party they belong to, to join together to unanimously pass this legislation.
In July 2008 my 22-year-old son, Timothy Richard McLean, had his basic human right to life violated when he was sleeping and he became a victim of an NCR offender. I believe that my son died in the horrific and very public manner that he did to shed light on the issue of NCR so that positive change could result and the safety of the public would be ensured.
My family and I have had to endure the trial and five annual review board hearings, and Timothy will not even have been dead for five years until the end of July. This has left us with no opportunity to grieve our loss. I have spent the time since Timothy's gruesome death trying to raise awareness in the public about what NCR is and why I believe it needs to change.
I have had the support of Manitoba cabinet ministers Eric Robinson and Andrew Swan as well as MPs Shelly Glover, Candice Bergen, and James Bezan, and I thank them for that support. There is a seemingly endless team of professionals providing for every need of the offender. While in care and with regularly administered medication and intense therapy in a controlled environment, paid for and provided by the taxpayer, I would be surprised if the offender did not show remarkable improvement. What about the victims? In our particular case, along with our very large family, there were 40 or so civilian witnesses and almost as many police officers who were witnesses to this horrible experience. Who speaks for and represents all of them? Today, I do.
We are all the living victims of an NCR offender. The psychiatric community and the Schizophrenia Society claim that with this legislation we are stigmatizing the mentally ill. They have much to say in the defence of what they claim is a very small number of extremely ill individuals. I ask, where were all these professionals when these very disturbed individuals or their loved ones were trying to get help? In most cases the offender has a history of mental illness, often diagnosed but usually untreated. The crucial reason for the lack of treatment is that the person with the mental illness does not believe they have a problem and therefore refuse to get help. The reality in Canada is that even when close family members or associates have verifiable proof that an individual is suffering from severe psychosis or mental health issues, if that disturbed individual is resistant to treatment, they are under no obligation to get treatment.
In her book, Changing My Mind, Margaret Trudeau states:
A person with a mental illness needs an advocate—someone to chart the waters, interpret possible side effects of drugs and provide reassurance when recovery seems so terribly slow.
I concur that what mentally ill individuals need more than anything is an advocate to act in their best interests, because the afflicted person is incapable of making such decisions for themselves.
An NCR designation removes the offender from the criminal justice system and places them in the provincial health care system. The accused then receives the treatment and medication they should have received in the first place, and the issue of the murder is never addressed. A Criminal Code provincial review board by its very name is misleading. Most Canadians believe that the crime is reviewed at these hearings and that the accused or offender is still considered a criminal. That is not the case. There will be no criminal record for these offenders. The accused is now referred to as the patient, and the only thing being reviewed is the patient's mental status. It should be called what it is, a mental health review board.
I can understand that these extremely ill individuals may not be psychologically accountable; however, they are, without question or doubt, still responsible for killing another human being. The rights of the accused should not overshadow those of the innocent victims. The suffering of the victims and their families should not go unnoticed in our society. Provincial review boards ought to make it mandatory for the health facilities to release information on NCR patients. Victims should have the right to all information regarding the treatment and movements of those found not criminally responsible. I recognize the controversy and complexity of these issues. I believe that we as a society need to work together to create a Canada that is balanced and equal, a country that provides timely and tangible support to the victims and to enable seriously ill individuals to get the help they need but may not necessarily want.
I also believe it is crucial to protect all citizens, including the afflicted. I want to know when they are released back into our neighbourhoods and what we are doing to ensure these individuals are taking their medications. What programs are in place? How exactly are they being monitored? Whom do they report to?
If they reoffend, who will be responsible? We know it's not going to be the mentally ill individual, the provincial review board members, the psychiatrists, or the Schizophrenia Society of Canada.
Ekosi. Meegwetch. Thank you. Merci, with respect.