---
title: "ABC and Vancouver Liberals Disagree on Involuntary Care Plebiscite"
description: "ABC Vancouver wants a yes vote on the October 17 plebiscite to convert the old St. Paul's Hospital into a secure facility with 100-plus involuntary care beds. Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate Kareem Allam is asking voters to say no."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/abc-involuntary-care-plebiscite-october-8"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:01:09.324Z"
---

The Vancouver Liberals and ABC Vancouver are taking opposite sides on the plebiscite that appears on the October 17 municipal ballot, The Tyee reported on October 9. Voters are being asked whether the city should push the province to convert the old St. Paul's Hospital into a secure medical facility with more than 100 involuntary care beds.

[Kareem Allam](/candidates/kareem-allam), the Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate, told The Tyee he is asking voters to say no. [Lisa Dominato](/candidates/lisa-dominato), an ABC Vancouver city councillor, told The Tyee a yes vote would give the city a mandate to press the province for the mental health resources residents need.

**What the plebiscite asks**

The question asks whether the city should request that the province convert the old St. Paul's Hospital into a facility offering acute voluntary care and more than 100 involuntary care beds for people posing a serious risk to themselves or others due to severe substance use and mental health disorders. The vote is non-binding. Adding the two plebiscite questions to the ballot will cost the city about $500,000, an ABC Vancouver spokesperson told The Tyee. ABC Vancouver held the majority on city council and voted to put the questions on the ballot.

**Why Allam is voting no**

Allam told The Tyee he opposes the measure for three reasons: the vote is non-binding so he believes it wastes money; detaining people because of drug use alone would be illegal under B.C.'s Mental Health Act; and renovation of the building would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.'s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, previously told The Tyee the Mental Health Act does not apply to someone simply because they use drugs, and a person can be held only until they come out of psychosis, after which they may choose to leave. The old St. Paul's is not seismically sound, contains asbestos, and lacks individual patient rooms, Allam said. The site would also need rezoning, The Tyee reported.

**What ABC says**

Dominato told The Tyee she is shocked to hear the proposal described as a prison or a developer bailout. She said a yes vote would give the city a clear endorsement to take to the province to push for more mental health resources, and compared that advocacy to mayors speaking out against emergency department closures. The city has worked with Vancouver Coastal Health to integrate mental health professionals into police response; last year those programs diverted 2,500 people toward health services instead of police response, she said.

**Allam's alternative**

Allam told The Tyee he would propose a six-pillar approach to drugs and mental health, adding housing and youth mental health to the existing four pillars of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. He said 2,715 Vancouverites are currently unhoused and that Vancouver's homeless count has increased by 12 per cent under ABC.

Voters can review both candidate profiles at [/candidates/kareem-allam](/candidates/kareem-allam) and [/candidates/lisa-dominato](/candidates/lisa-dominato) before advance voting ends October 16 or election day on October 17.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.