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BILL 31 VIOLATES ALL CHARTER, CONSTITUTIONAL & HUMAN RIGHTS

Home > Blog > BILL 31 VIOLATES ALL CHARTER, CONSTITUTIONAL & HUMAN RIGHTS

It is troubling that Bill 31 is being passed by the Alberta Legislature. Thislegislationallows individuals to be apprehended in the community undera communitytreatment order (CTO), taken to Alberta Hospital, detainedbehind locked doorsand forced to be administered psychotropic medication.Bill 31 is legislation that violates all charter, constitutional and human rights.It is parallel to the Alberta Sterilization Act of 1928, that was amended in 1937so that consent was no longer deemed a requirement, The Sterilization Act isnow denounced as abhorrent.The horror of the criminal abuse of patients at Alberta Hospital which resultedin the Ombudsmen Investigation of 1982 should also not be forgotten. Theinvestigation exposed that Alberta Hospital patients were kneed in the groin,kicked, pushed, had coffee and salt thrown in their faces and hair, staff wereknown to have stepped on patient’s heads. All, while being detained behindlocked doors under the supervision of professional persons, Edmonton JournalSeptember 3, 1981 ‘Seniors abused in hospital”, September 19, 1981.We maintain that no human being, including professionals, should be givenunlimited power over another human being. Bill 31 is morally unacceptable.