“This System Is Broken” -- MLA Claire Rattée Demands Immediate Action and Cross-Ministerial Review

“This System Is Broken”

MLA Claire Rattée Demands Immediate Action and Cross-Ministerial Review

 

VICTORIA, B.C.: Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena and Official Opposition Critic for Mental Health and Addictions, is calling for immediate intervention and a full systemic review following the case of an 18-year-old Indigenous woman who has been failed repeatedly by British Columbia’s care systems.

The young woman has been living in a homeless encampment for nearly a year. She is being sexually assaulted, using fentanyl and meth, and has experienced multiple near-death overdoses. Despite her pleas for help and her father's ongoing advocacy, no coordinated intervention has taken place.

Her case, which includes serious allegations of abuse and neglect, highlights glaring gaps across multiple government ministries and systems:

• She was molested in a hospital by a convicted nurse and later placed with male staff despite documented trauma.
  
  
• She was placed in a supportive housing unit alongside a known human trafficker.
  
  
• She was permitted to use drugs while in hospital care, and in one case, a nurse reportedly offered to return her seized fentanyl.
  
  
• When a Jordan’s Principle-funded treatment plan was approved and ready, ministry staff failed to show up to fill out the necessary paperwork.
  
  
• After maintaining sobriety for a week, she sought help from a hospital, only to be discharged with prescribed alternatives and no safety plan, resulting in relapse.

“This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a policy failure,” said Rattée.

“She wanted help. Her family begged for it. And this government let her fall through every crack. This case should shake decision-makers to their core.”

Rattée is calling for a full cross-ministerial review involving the Ministries of Health, Mental Health and Addictions, Children and Family Development, and Housing to investigate how government inaction allowed the crisis to escalate.

“Our system isn’t under pressure, it’s broken,” Rattée said.

“When a teenager waits 34 days for a mental health care appointment, is turned away from treatment and shelters, and sent back to the street with prescribed opiates and no plan, we’re not dealing with isolated failures. This is structural.”

She is also calling for the immediate use of the Mental Health Act to place the young woman in safe, trauma-informed care, but says legislative change is needed.

“To prevent this from happening again, I’m renewing my call for Compassionate Care legislation, a clear, humane legal framework to intervene when someone is in crisis and unable to advocate for themselves. We need action—before it’s too late.”