With Bill C-54, if you are deemed to be "high risk not criminally responsible," you will be held for a minimum of three years before you ever have the chance to see a review board. As someone who has not only been a patient in three separate psychiatric hospitals in Ontario, but has also worked in forensic psychiatric institutions, I know that they aren't always the best places to get better. With proper treatment, I was healthy again and posed no threat to the public within a few months. Had I been forced to remain in hospital for three years, I likely wouldn't be the productive, law-abiding citizen that I am today.

Alex Conte, a 21-year-old Sooke, B.C. man was found not criminally responsible for killing his mother due to his mental illness. I can only wonder how those who proclaim that the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators of violence account for incidents like this. This statement that the mentally ill are less violent than others is true for those who are treated but not for those who are untreated.

I have tried to avoid looking at pictures of the treatment of Ashley Smith from still photos to videos. But, it is wrong to look away for my own sake. It is wrong for any of us to look away for our own sake. . We need to see it so that we never let our government treat the mentally ill as "lesser than."

Who wants to be friends with and get to know someone who is totally psychotic? If they are properly treated fine, but otherwise, no. Maybe what we should do instead is to spend that anti-stigma money to ensure that they are treated and restored to sanity. Then most of us would want to befriend them and they would live longer with more fulfilling lives.