Healthcare Comes First

We live in a city where we allocate more money to a dangerously biased policing system than to healthcare, a system that saves lives and improves the quality of life for everyone. Reallocating funding from the police and RCMP to healthcare and mental health services will make a positive change in our communities, and save lives too often taken by police.

Take Mona Wang for example. A "wellness check" in her hour of need ended in her being brutalized by a police officer. We cannot continue to place our trust and mental health in the hands of the police. They are not trained to deal with healthcare issues beyond basic first aid. All too often when someone experiencing a mental health crisis cannot comply with what officers are asking, they turn to excessive violence. Mental healthcare workers are educated and equipped to handle these situations with care, not violence.

Please, reallocate funding to beneficial services, not the police.