The City of Dawson Creek has put out the call partners to ask the province to consider it
Prince George’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs voted unanimously at its Friday, May 8 meeting to endorse a call from the City of Dawson Creek for the province to launch an independent review of universal mental health care.
Attached to the meeting agenda was a copy of a letter distributed to members of a Mental Health and Addiction Accord that Dawson Creek is asking they personalize and send to representatives of the provincial government.
The letter mentions the deadly Feb. 10 school shooting that occurred in Tumbler Ridge and requests “that the province initiate an independent, expert-led review to examine the feasibility and design of universal, publicly funded mental health care in British Columbia.”
It lists barriers faced by residents of communities across BC in accessing mental health care like limited clinical capacity, long wait times and a reliance on private health insurance to pay for existing services.
Coun. Garth Frizzell, the committee’s chair, noted at the meeting that Prince George has been working on the accord since 2024.
At a symposium held in Prince George that year, various municipalities, regional districts including Fraser-Fort George, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous organizations and communities signed the accord as a pledge to improve urgent mental health and addictions challenges being experienced in northern and central British Columbia.
The committee voted unanimously on May 8 to recommend that the whole of council approve a motion to have Mayor Simon Yu sign a Prince George copy of the letter and send it to the province.
That item will now be discussed at a future city council meeting. It is not currently on the agenda for the next meeting on Monday, May 11 but it could still appear as a late addition.