Defund the police

Both of my parents suffer from mental illnesses and this has acerbated instances of family violence within our household over the past 20 years. In these instances our only option has been to call the police to act as an intermediary however, this has only lead to expensive legal issues and trauma for my family increasing stress. If we were able to call a community support worker who could de-escalate the situation and connect us with available community resources this would help solve the route problems and stop the cycle. Ottawa needs to defund the police and put these resources into mental health care and community organizations.