October 22, 2025
Dear Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia:
The British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (BCSS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1982 by families and friends of people living with schizophrenia. BCSS supports families and advocates for people with schizophrenia and other severe and persistent mental illnesses province wide.
BCSS agrees in principle with Dr. Barbara Kane’s petition ‘Develop Psychiatric Hospital for Northern BC Communities’ with the following proviso: As BCSS is an organization with a provincial mandate, we are well aware that the urgent issues raised in the petition are not unique to communities in northern BC. In fact, provincial mental health tertiary care facilities in all health authorities are overloaded with patients who have stabilized their illness but are unable to be discharged (or optimally discharged) due to their functioning level in need of Approved Homes for long term psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or to discuss any of the above.
Thank you,
Jack Middleton, President, BC Schizophrenia Society
Faydra Aldridge CEO, BC Schizophrenia Society
cc:
Honourable Minister Osborne, Ministry of Health
Honourable Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
Darryl Sturtevant, Assistant Deputy Minister
Dr. Barbara Kane, Clinical Psychiatrist