FREDERICTON (June 24, 2025) The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick wishes to recognize the successful collaboration of the Department of Health, the Horizon Health Network, the Vitalité Health Network and the Office of Psychiatric Patient Advocate Services in now ensuring that forms which are issued to patients who are detained and treated involuntarily under the Mental Health Act are available in the official language of choice of the patient.
In January 2023 the Commissioner of Official Languages issued an investigation report following numerous complaints alleging a lack of provision of legal forms completed in the official language of both English-speaking and French-speaking patients under the Mental Health Act.
Treating physicians issue forms under the Mental Health Act to detain a person who is experiencing severe mental illness for observation and short-term treatment; this suspends a person’s rights to self-determination. Subsequently, additional applications can be completed by psychiatrists to seek an order from a mental health tribunal created under that Act, who will determine whether the patient will be detained in hospital for treatment without their consent for up to one month.
The Office of the Commissioner concluded that the complaints were founded and that the tribunals constituted under the Mental Health Act are administrative tribunals and are a “court” as defined in the Official Languages Act. As such, individuals participating in those hearings have the rights set out in section 17 of the Official Languages Act to use the language of their choice in their hearing before the Mental Health Tribunal. This includes the forms issued under the Mental Health Act which explain the basis for the hearing.
Following the issuance of the investigation report, the Department of Health, the Horizon Health Network and the Vitalité Health Network worked diligently to implement the Commissioner’s recommendations.
The Commissioner of Official Languages, Shirley MacLean, feels it is important to highlight this very positive outcome in ensuring that the official language rights of vulnerable patients are protected. This once again accentuates that when we all work together, we can achieve positive outcomes for all.
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Media contact:
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick
506-444-4229 or 1-888-651-6444 (toll free)
commissioner@officiallanguages.nb.ca