Premier Eby questions Vancouver's public safety plebiscite, says province already supports involuntary care

Vancouver City Council approved adding two public safety plebiscite questions to the October 17, 2026 civic election ballot, but Premier David Eby said Friday he was surprised by the need for a public vote on something he says has broad agreement.

One plebiscite question will ask voters whether Vancouver's municipal government should formally call on the provincial government to convert portions of the old St. Paul's Hospital — or another similar site — into a secure medical facility providing voluntary care and at least 100 involuntary care beds for people posing a serious risk to themselves or others because of severe addictions and mental health issues.

The proposal envisions this as an interim use of the existing Burrard Street hospital campus after Providence Health Care vacates the site for the new St. Paul's Hospital campus in the False Creek Flats. Developer and property owner Concord Pacific is expected to eventually redevelop the Burrard Street campus, potentially a decade away.

Eby made his comments during a provincial government press conference Friday morning, shortly after Vancouver City Council concluded its special meeting where Mayor Ken Sim's ABC Vancouver majority formally approved the plebiscite questions. "I was, you know, I'll admit a little surprised to see the proposal for a vote question on which I suspect there would be 100 per cent support, including from our government," Eby said.

"The mayor knows we've been looking for a site in Vancouver for this kind of care. We know that Vancouver requires it, especially with the intense epicentre of the Downtown Eastside."

Eby's comments mark a notable response to Mayor Sim and ABC's repeated criticism that the provincial government has announced new involuntary care capacity elsewhere in B.C. while failing to create new beds within Vancouver, despite the city experiencing the country's most visible and severe impacts of the addictions and mental health crisis. However, Eby indicated the disagreement is less about whether additional care is required and more about the City's decision to put the question on the election ballot.

"Certainly, I guess, if he wants to go out and ask Vancouverites if they're supportive of something that we know they support and that our government supports," Eby said, leaving the statement unfinished.

The province has not publicly stated its timeline or specific location for the involuntary care capacity it says it has been searching for in Vancouver. The timeline for Providence Health Care's vacation of the St. Paul's Hospital Burrard Street campus and the opening of the new hospital in False Creek Flats also remains unannounced.