UPDATE NOVEMBER 12, 2023:

I AM REQUESTING YOUR HELP.  PLEASE SEND E-MAILS TO THE LIST BELOW IN SUPPORT OF THE NON RESTRICTIVE N.B. COMMUNITY TREATMENT ORDER VERSES THE PROPOSED VERY RESTRICTIVE P.E.I. CTO.  ANDREW WOULD NOT QUALIFY FOR THE PROPOSED P.E.I. CTO BUT WOULD QUALIFY FOR THE N.B. MODEL CTO.

Hundreds of letters and e-mails are being sent to the P.E.I. Government in support of our request to legislate the N.B. COMMUNITY TREATMENT ORDER model, rather than the proposed P.E.I. CTO which is so restrictive that Andrew, as well as many others will not qualify.

P.E.I. IS THE LAST PROVINCE IN CANADA TO LEGISLATE A COMMUNITY TREATMENT ORDER! ISLANDERS DESERVE A GOLD STANDARD CTO LIKE NEW BRUNSWICK, NOT THE VERY RESTRICTIVE CTO THE GOVERNMENT IS PROPOSING.

THE PROPOSED P.E.I. COMMUNITY TREATMENT ORDER LEGISLATION INSISTS THAT A PERSON HAS HAD EXTENSIVE PERIODS OF HOSPITALIZATION BEFORE BEING ELIGIBLE FOR THE BENEFITS OF A CTO WHICH HELPS KEEP THE MENTALLY ILL ON THEIR MEDICATIONS.

OTHER CANADIAN PROVINCES HAVE BEEN ABANDONING THAT REQUIRMENT. I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD LEGISLATE THE N.B. CTO MODEL KEEPING THIS IN MIND. ISLANDERS DESERVE A GOLD STANDARD CTO NOT A SILVER STANDARD ONE!

I encourage people from N.B. and other provinces to send letters advising the P.E.I. Government how well the Community Treatment Orders are working in your province, and that the N.B. less restrictive CTO should be legislated. I realize it is called by another name in New Brunswick.

Maybe you have a loved one that received a CTO thanks to the Government of N.B. who legislated a very non restrictive CTO enabling many to qualify, Our son would qualify with the N.B. CTO but not the P.E.I. CTO.

The people of Ontario love our son, Andrew Bryenton. They watched out for him, and gave him food, water, money and clothing when he would accept it.
There were 11007 residents of Ontario and P.E.I. who signed the PLEASE BRING ANDREW BRYENTON HOME TO P.E.I. PETITION.

There was a special page set up by the Upper Village, Cedarvale Forest Hill & Allenby (Toronto) Facebook Group entitled WHERE'S ANDREW? People would post when they spotted or assisted Andrew.

I received the following message from Elana Levinson today.
Hi @everyone .....A bit long but PLEASE read....
I assume if you are in this group, it's because you wanted to or did help Andrew at some point. Everyone was so thrilled that he was finally back in PEI to receive much needed treatment.

Well, mama bear Marlene needs our help again, as it looks like that is not going to happen. PEI is enacting a law making Andrew ineligible for mandatory treatment.

All of Canada except for PEI have laws that require an individual to get treatment in the community if they do not understand the need for it and if their doctors have assessed them to be at high risk of stopping treatment.

We need to send an email to the people noted below as well as any media contacts encouraging PEI to support the New Brunswick CTO (Community Treatment Order)model and abandon the proposed restrictive CTO.

If the proposed CTO is passed, Andrew will not qualify and will not be required to get treatment. Why not? Because he has not spent a total of 30 days as an involuntary inpatient. This is not a requirement in N.S. or other provinces.

Marlene and family are justifiably terrified of Andrew making the uninformed decision, due to his anosognosia, to decline treatment, and return to the streets.
Let's not let Andrew down at the finish line. Let's help him and his family across it.

Below is the letter I will be sending. Please take a few minutes to send one as well. If you need to, copy mine and make it your own by adding something personal, perhaps an encounter you had with Andrew or an observation about him or your understanding of the need for mandatory treatment based on something in your own life. That would be impactful. Please do it ASAP as the law is might be scheduled to be passed on Tuesday Nov 14.

Dear _______,
My name is Elana Levinson. I live in Toronto, Ontario and have for months been following the story of Andrew Bryenton of PEI. His story garnered much attention here and the people of Toronto rallied together for almost a year to keep him safe while he walked the streets. We all watched and supported his mother’s fierce fight to get her son back home to PEI to receive much needed treatment.

It has come to my attention that a new CTO law will be enacted on Tuesday Nov 14,2023 which will make Andrew ineligible for the CTO to keep him on much needed medication. That would not be the case in any province other than PEI.
Please support the gold standard of CTO for PEI which is the New Brunswick model, as proposed by Marlene Bryenton, Dr. John Gray and Dr. Richard O’Reilly. Please do not let Andrew slip through the cracks! Please do not let other Andrews slip through the cracks!

I had contact with Andrew while he was on the streets of Toronto. He was often in perilous situations. He walked 10-20 km daily in the blazing sun with no hat or water. He walked those 10-20 km in shoes so tattered that he was almost barefoot and in pants so worn that they were see through. He steadfastly refused offers of shoes, clothing, money, food. We observed him getting thinner and less coherent as time passed. Fortunately the people of Toronto are persistent and Andrew accepted enough food etc to sustain him through the summer. Given the hours walking and often sleeping in 30+ degree heat under the blazing sun, it’s a miracle he made it. I doubt he would have survived had it been winter.

Sadly, if Andrew is not required to take his medications, he will likely end up on the streets again without the capacity to enter a hospital of shelter for help.
Andrew was medically transferred to PEI. I assume that means that doctors and Minister McLane determined that treatment in PEI was necessary. Please do not let all this fall through by allowing the proposed CTO model to be enacted on Tuesday.

Andrew’s life is literally in your hands.

Yours Truly,

Elana Levinson

Lastly, here are the people to email….
Premier Dennis King premier@gov.pe.ca
Minister of Health and Addictions, Mark McLane mamclaneminister@gov.pe.ca
Lisa Thibeau Deputy Minister of Health and Addictions lthibeau@gov.pe.ca
Krista Shaw Assistant Deputy Minister Mental Health and Addictions kdshaw@ihis.org
Thank you!!!!
Elana Levinson