Out to pasture: a case for the retirement of Canadian mental health legislation.

Abstract

The emergence of new adult guardianship and related legislation and systems in British Columbia, Ontario, and other jurisdictions has generated questions about the utility of separate mental health legislation. Mental health statutes are the descendents of legislation that once created and regulated separate institutions and systems for the insane (later known as the mentally diseased and, more recently, the mentally ill). Such legislation is no longer consistent with the dominant community care and treatment strategies in the mental health field and the growing trend to recognize and respect consumer involvement in care and treatment decision making. Emerging legislation in the guardianship field makes provision for a range of options and mechanisms that can replace separate mental health statutes (e.g., general consent to health care legislation, and provision for enduring powers of attorney of the person and Ulysses agreements) and produce a new and more effective legal framework for the provision of mental health care and treatment.