Editorial: The madness on our streets

There is nothing like a crisis to get the Canadian government going.

And when our elected ones act, never mind who is in office, the actions often leave you at a loss for words.

One of the biggest issues facing us today in Vancouver is the madness on our streets.

No, it’s not only about the mentally ill who live on our streets.

It’s about the madness of how your tax dollars get spent trying to deal with this social nightmare.

While all the world is trying to figure out how an economically vibrant society with a social fabric that is the envy of the planet can have so many living on the streets, our government has come out with a very Canadian way to tackle the issue.

Throw money at a commission.

This week, Tony Clement, Minister of Health, announced Ottawa has confirmed $130 million for the Mental Health Commission of Canada over its 10-year mandate.

"Some of the best experts in the mental health field in Canada are working with the Commission," said Clement.

The Commission has apparently been around since August 31, 2007.

Hold on a second. Hasn’t the number of the mentally ill on our streets ballooned during that period of time?

Would it not be better and perhaps more effective to use that money building homes and providing direct services for the mentally ill?

Surely the money will see immediate yield, if the number of psychiatric beds in our major cities are increased.

Has anyone asked families dealing with mental health issues how hard it is to get someone in their care some help?

The Mental Health Commission of Canada will do and has done some fine work.

But $130 million for research projects to help Canadians with mental illness could be used immediately for immediate results.

According to Clement, the three key initiatives of the Commission are to conduct a 10-year anti-stigma campaign, build a pan-Canadian Knowledge Exchange Centre, and craft a national mental health strategy for Canada.

The minister made the announcement just as a survey showed three in every five Canadians think that mental health care is under-funded.

If Tony Clement wants to know how to make our tax dollars work when it comes to mental health, maybe he should visit the Guliker family in Chilliwack.

Gerald Guliker was brain-injured seven years ago, which made him mentally unstable.

His family could not get him the necessary help and soon enough he was in jail.

On his release, he was terrified of going back to prison.

He talked about suicide.

The family tried to get him in to mental health programs through the Ministry of Health, but were unsuccessful.

There was nowhere to go for him.

Things deteriorated.

Two weeks ago, he fled upon seeing cops during a botched arranged intervention. While speeding away, fearing that he would be thrown in jail once again, he crashed his car into an oncoming SUV, killing himself and the driver of the other vehicle.

Gerald Guliker’s cry for help was never heard.

An innocent father driving home that day was killed.

Now you tell us.

Should millions be spent on getting immediate services to those who need them like Gerald Guliker, or do you think it would be better spent on a public relations company tasked with coming up with a mental health anti-stigma campaign?