Williams Lake City Council voted in support of the Federal Government’s Bill C-48.
The bill, which came into law on January 4th, will have prolific violent offenders tell the judge why they think they should be let go.
Councillor Scott Nelson says they’re calling on the Provincial and Federal Government to reform the existing system around addiction and mental illness for prolific offenders.
“People that are addicted to drugs, if they need a helping hand and they need to be put into mandatory care to ensure that it takes one week, two weeks, ten weeks, that’s what we need to do.” says Nelson.
“We need to get them off the streets, and into the proper facilities that will save their life.”
Nelson added that people are dying on the streets under the current system, and believes this reform will be part of the answer.
Discussions were held in regards to enforcing mandatory care, and if it would infringe on human rights for community safety.
For now, the City is looking to bring it to North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for support.