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“One of the most powerful things a plaintiff can say in court is that he or she never received any type of apology.”

— from the blog Wisconsin Lawyer

It’s no small thing to groundlessly deprive a citizen of his liberty.

Pam Frampton

Yet that’s exactly what happened to Andrew Abbass for six days in April 2015. The 37-year-old was kept in a Corner Brook psychiatric unit after being escorted there by police responding to Abbass’s outraged tweets after Don Dunphy was shot and killed in his home by a police officer.

Justice Brian F. Furey of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled on April 27, 2018 that Abbass should not have been involuntarily hospitalized, since he was not mentally ill. Furey called the consequences of that action “profound and serious.”

They are. The unlawful detainment has left a path of wreckage in Abbass’s life that he’s still trying to recover from: the stigma of involuntary admittance; the effects of extreme stress on his health; the loss of employment opportunities; the strain on personal relationships; legal costs; the lingering effects of having “detained” in his medical record.

And in all this time, no one has said, “We’re sorry this happened to you.”

“If someone died, you say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Abbass said in an interview from Labrador Thursday. “It’s just common human decency. But no one wants to take responsibility for anything.”

I contacted the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, whose officers took Abbass to the psychiatric unit that day, as well as Western Health and the Department of Health and Community Services, which is responsible for administering the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act used to detain Abbass.

All three entities said they are reviewing what happened and will change policies and procedures in light of Abbass’s case if need be.

“The detention of an individual for mental health reasons should always be done with the utmost sensitivity to the person’s individual needs,” the RNC said in a statement, “and improving our response to mental health calls for service is an objective in our 2018-2021 RNC Corporate Plan.”

Western Health says it is “currently reviewing documentation processes and exploring additional education for physicians and staff regarding the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act.”

Health and Community Services says it, too, is taking action.

“This month, the department will provide an educational overview of the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act for each of the regional health authorities. This will ensure that health care professionals who work with this legislation are familiar with its provisions. The department will also work with the regional health authorities to ensure documentation processes related to the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act are consistent throughout. Finally, the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information is currently performing an audit of the provincial rights advisors, mandated under the Act, to ensure all legislated timeframes and requirements are being achieved.”

All these actions are appropriate and will hopefully lead to improvements, so that what was done to Abbass will not be done to anyone else. That’s what Abbass is hoping for.

The mental health act is supposed to safeguard and provide care for people who are actually mentally ill, not be used as a tool to hold someone against their will because they posted edgy tweets.

Abbass is pondering his legal options and believes he is entitled to compensation under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Canada is party to, and which addresses unlawful detention.

He would also like an apology.

Frankly, the silence is profound and disgraceful.

If the provincial government worries that apologizing is tantamount to admitting liability, it need only look to its own Act Respecting Apologies, which clearly states: “An apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with a matter does not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability by the person in connection with the matter.”

Andrew Abbass is a citizen who was denied his rights and freedoms unlawfully.

Isn’t anybody sorry?

Related columns by this author

Pam Frampton: Court rules Andrew Abbass was unlawfully detained

Pam Frampton: Andrew Abbass — a life in limbo

Pam Frampton: Andrew Abbass and the right to dissent

Pam Frampton is a columnist whose work is published in The Western Star and The Telegram. Email pamela.frampton@thetelegram.com. Twitter: pam_frampton