Diane Vanderwal holds a photo of her late son Wade Vanderwal with her daughter Sandy Heyink in Exeter, Ont. on Dec. 27, 2020.Diane Vanderwal had the number to a local crisis line taped to the fridge of her Exeter, Ont., home on the night of Dec. 3, 2019, when her son Wade began showing signs of mental distress. The number was on a pamphlet she’d received from a doctor, which she’d saved in case of an emergency.
But Ms. Vanderwal and her daughter Sandy Heyink say they believe their loss highlights the need for a rethink of our societal response to mental-health crises.There’d been signs, in the lead-up to December, 2019, that Wade was unwell. Normally an avid walker, he wasn’t going out as much. He was telling bizarre stories that his sister knew couldn’t be true. And they suspected he’d stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication after he started taking his pills into his bedroom.
Unsure of who else they could call, they agreed to call 911. While they were also concerned about the smoke from the stove fire, the neighbour told the 911 dispatcher by the end of her call that she did not see flames. Their primary concern was that Wade was in crisis. She expected that they too would try to talk to Wade. But the door was quickly busted open with the battering ram. It was then, according to the SIU report, that Wade came out holding the axe.
Charges against police officers are rare in these cases, he said – partly because there are protections for law enforcement under the Criminal Code, which says they may use reasonable force if they believe on reasonable grounds that they are protecting themselves or others from imminent death or serious harm.
Mr. Laming says Canadians should not take for granted that such reports are public, as they are in Ontario. In some other provinces or territories, he said, “people aren’t afforded that opportunity.” Members of the public should read and scrutinizeAs mental-health calls continue to surge each year, critics have questioned whether armed police are the right people to dispatch to mental-health calls.
But as the evening came to an end and people started checking their phones, they saw the case was back in the media. The SIU report had come out.