NDP vows 75 involuntary care spaces at Okanagan Correctional Facility

The BC NDP has pledged up to $90 million to open 75 involuntary care spaces at the Okanagan Correctional Centre in Oliver if the party forms government in the provincial election, which is eight days away. Candidates Loyal Wooldridge (Kelowna Centre), Niki Sharma (Vancouver-Hastings), Binny Boparai (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream), Harwinder Sandhu (Vernon-Lumby) and Tina Lee (Penticton-Summerland) announced the commitment at Kerry Park in downtown Kelowna on Friday, Oct. 16.

The spaces would serve people experiencing severe mental health and addiction challenges alongside complex brain injuries. The NDP says people with these concurrent conditions may not be able to ask for help and need specialized, compassionate care. Wooldridge said residents have told the party they are tired of seeing street disorder, and that vulnerable people need care and connections to the services they need.

Wooldridge said he was involved in discussions about proposing the Oliver facility to higher levels of government during his two terms as a Kelowna city councillor. He praised regional mayors and First Nations leaders for their work preparing the Okanagan facility for use as an involuntary care centre. Kelowna’s incumbent mayor, Tom Dyas, attended Friday’s announcement.

Wooldridge said the site was chosen because space is available and it can be brought online quickly. Building a separate facility, he added, would take many years. He said regional mayors had done an exceptional job of putting forward the option.

The NDP’s target is to open the 75 spaces at the Oliver facility in early 2028. The proposed spending of up to $90 million is part of the party’s current operating plan. Sharma said the commitment is part of a province-wide plan to add more involuntary compassionate care. She said professionals would closely monitor outcomes to ensure people are stabilized and receive the support they need. The real measure of success, she said, would be whether people notice a difference on the streets where they live.

Involuntary care facilities currently operate in Surrey and Maple Ridge. A second facility is expected to open in Surrey, along with one in Prince George. Sharma said she knows the issue concerns many people, and that compassionate outcomes are possible for people who are suffering now.

Soon after the announcement, Conservative candidates Kristina Loewen of Kelowna Centre and Gavin Dew of Kelowna-Mission said in an email that they welcome the spaces at the Okanagan Correctional Centre but believe they should have been established years ago. Dew said the commitment was welcome, but was not David Eby’s idea. He described it as a practical solution from local leaders who were tired of seeing people suffer while existing facilities sat underused.

Loewen said there is nothing compassionate about leaving someone with severe addiction or mental illness on the street, or leaving their family powerless to help. She said municipal leaders, health-care professionals and families across the Okanagan have been calling for the spaces for years, as have the Conservatives. She said she was glad David Eby was finally listening, but that it should not have taken an election campaign.