Sask. passes law to force people into drug treatment

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]Can the government force you to drug treatment? In Saskatchewan, the answer is officially yes. That's because the province has passed the compassionate intervention act. It means that as early as this fall, people with severe addictions could be ordered into involuntary addictions treatment at Saskatchewan Hospital. It's a psychiatric facility in North Battleford. That's where the first assessment center will be located. The government says the law is about helping people who aren't able to help themselves. We have individuals who are a harm to themselves, a harm to others, don't have the capacity to actually make that decision to get the treatment that they need. They have family members, they have loved ones that have tried to get them that help, that have put them in voluntary treatment.

[00:00:41]>> Carr says treatment spaces will not be jails, but secure sites where treatment services will be provided, including legal representation. But critics say there's no evidence to show forced treatment even works. This is absolute garbage. The reason this is garbage is because the very central tenant of ethics in medicine is patient autonomy.

[00:01:04]The ability for a patient to choose what happens to them. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Medical Association released a joint statement in April opposing involuntary treatment.

[00:01:16]Physicians called for strengthening voluntary evidence-based care before implementing the compassionate intervention act. The statement said involuntary addiction treatment is not supported by clinical evidence and may increase the risk of overdose following release from detention. The statement also said the province's already strained health care system is not ready for this. The law has even caused a rift within the opposition party. The NDP voted against the bill. Leader Carla Beck is on board, but says forced treatment should be a last resort. What we had a problem with was the government's unwillingness to address the whole rest of the spectrum, the majority of people from from prevention to voluntary treatment. Former NDP MLA Betty Nippi Albright says she felt she had no choice but to leave the party over its position on forced treatment.

[00:02:06]She'll now sit as an independent. She said, "We're against Bill 48, but in the next breath said, 'We support forced treatment.' HIPAA is not included in Bill 48. Anyone that is building a case for an individual to be forced into treatment, they can look at their health records for this purpose." Nippi Albright says Beck directed her not to discuss or release a report that her office commissioned that identified problems with the compassionate intervention act.

[00:02:36]Beck rejected Nippi Albright's description of what happened. I will acknowledge I take some offense to that.

[00:02:41]She says the party used the report as evidence to propose changes to the law, but those are shot down by the government. Now, with the passing of this law, which has garnered both support and pushback, it begs the question. Is involuntary treatment for addiction ever justified? And when, if ever, should it be mandatory?