B.C. premier asks politicians not to ‘speculate’ on Lapu-Lapu attack, promises mental health reforms

Premier David Eby has announced a review of the province’s Mental Health Act in the wake of a mass killing at a Vancouver community festival.

B.C. Premier David Eby has urged fellow politicians to avoid publicly speculating about potential factors in last weekend’s deadly Lapu-Lapu Day attack in Vancouver – while also promising a “modernization” of the province’s Mental Health Act to address broader concerns from the public.

Eby said his NDP government has held off on those reforms due to an ongoing legal challenge to the legislation, specifically around the use of involuntary treatment, but that officials have decided to move ahead anyway.

“It’s a commitment to ensure an act that was introduced and passed in the ‘90s is meeting the moment for today’s patients, for people that need this kind of care,” Eby told reporters outside the legislature Wednesday.

The premier, a lawyer with a background as a civil liberties advocate, suggested updating the Mental Health Act in the midst of a court challenge might pose “some risk,” but said officials have decided they “need to bring it forward.”

“I don’t think we can delay it anymore,” he said.

Attack points to ‘deeper failure,’ mayor says

His remarks came hours after Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim held a news conference calling for an immediate expansion to B.C.’s system of involuntary mental health treatment, beyond the expansion already underway with more than 400 new care beds coming to hospitals, prisons and pre-trial centres.

Sim pointed to details confirmed by the Vancouver Coastal Authority that the alleged killer had been under the care of a mental health team, and was on extended leave in the community at the time of Saturday’s attack, which left 11 people dead and many others injured.

“This is incredibly difficult to hear and even harder to accept because it points to a deeper failure in the mental health system,” Sim said. “Cities like Vancouver, we’re stepping up where we can but make no mistake about this, we can’t do it alone, and that’s why I continue to call on senior levels of government to act, to expand compassionate mandatory care, to resource secure treatment beds beyond the 400 currently committed.”

Asked by a reporter whether he has any further information indicating more beds might have prevented the Lapu-Lapu Day attack, Sim said “no.”

“Look, it’s a bigger issue than that, per se. What I can tell you is the odds of this individual getting the help they need would have been significantly higher if we had those supports in place,” the mayor added.

‘I ask people to reserve judgment’

Responding to Sim’s remarks, Eby pointed out that health officials have also said the suspect, 30-year-old Kai-ji Adam Lo, was “complying with his medication” and showed “no indication” of being a public safety risk.

Both of those claims will be tested, Eby added, either in court or during the public inquiry he promised this week.

“There are a whole lot of politicians right now, unfortunately, who are lining up to speculate about what happened in terms of this individual making the decision to drive into a crowd,” Eby said.

“Before we throw a care team under the bus, before we say they did something wrong in failing to identity some kind of issue, let’s make sure that that’s actually the case – so I ask people to reserve judgment and not speculate until we know.”

The premier suggested B.C.’s update to the Mental Health Act, undertaken by the Ministry of Health, is intended to address wider concerns about people in mental health crises, rather than Saturday’s tragedy in particular.

“All you have to do is go to a downtown core and see people struggling in the streets – that’s why we’re expanding those beds,” Eby said. “We’re going to continue doing that work. You’ll find no fight from me on that.”