Political Asylums MRonald A. LaJeunesse Each item in The Muttart Fellowship Products Series carries “the look” designed for the program. The concept incorporating pebbles and water fits with the Zen-like qualities of the visual identity of the Fellowship Program. Each front-cover pebble is different—representing the uniqueness of each fellow and what s/he has to offer. Applicants are like pebbles among pebbles. After each is refreshed and renewed through the Fellowship year, s/he has an impact on the nonprofit charitable sector like the rings the pebble creates on a pond of water. The varied use of this design recognizes the individuality of the Fellows while also creating a unified look to the Muttart Fellowship Products Series. The Muttart Fellowship Program—unique in Canada—was created in 1996. A project of The Muttart Foundation, a private foundation based in Edmonton, Alberta, the program is designed to: • develop research and other materials that will benefit the charitable sector in Canada. • provide senior managers within the social-services sector with an opportunity for a sabbatical year—a chance to recharge and renew themselves. Up to five fellowships are awarded each year to people working in senior-management positions in social-service charities within the Foundation’s funding area—Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Yukon. During the Fellowship year, the Fellow leaves his or her agency to work on the chosen project. The Foundation makes a grant equal to the salary and benefit costs for the Fellow’s position, and provides a budget for expenses related to the project. At the end of the Fellowship year, the Fellow returns to his or her agency for at least a year. For more information about the project, please contact: Executive Director The Muttart Foundation 1150 Scotia Place 1 10060 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3R8 M Political Asylums Ronald A. LaJeunesse March 2002 Published by: The Muttart Foundation © Rights to this material are held by The Muttart Foundation. Permission is granted to any not-for-profit organization to use the material, in whole or in part, for any non-commercial purpose, provided that credit is given to the author and to the Foundation. Permission for any other use must be obtained from The Muttart Foundation. The opinions expressed in this material are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the The Muttart Foundation’s Board of Directors. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication LaJeunesse, Ronald A., 1944- Political asylums/Ronald A. LaJeunesse. (Muttart fellowship series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-9730679-1-8 1. Mental health services--Alberta--History. I. Muttart Foundation. II. Title. III. Series: Muttart fellowships. RA790.7.C3L33 2002 362.2’097123 C2002-901786-6 Dedication This book is for the tens of thousands of Albertans who were well treated, supported, and cared for through Alberta’s mental health services. It is also for the thousands who were not. Acknowledgements To my wife, Wendy, and our family, who supported me uncondi- tionally and advised me personally, editorially, and politically. A special thanks to my son, Paul, who saved me technologically on what seemed a daily basis. To the board and staff of the Canadian Mental Health Association, who supported my leave from work and who helped me with advice and research. Particular thanks to David Allen who shared his con- siderable research and editing talent. To The Muttart Foundation, whose Fellowship made the research, writing, and publication of this book possible. Special recognition to Executive Director Bob Wyatt who has an extraordinary sensitiv- ity to the issues and politics surrounding mental health reform and personal development. To the 12 people who formed my editorial board and who reviewed material, some anonymously, from the perspective of consumers/users/survivors (patients and clients and those formerly so), families, psychiatrists, lawyers, psychologists, psychiatric nurs- es, educators, civil servants, politicians, publishers, and academics. To Kathie Kennedy and Beckie Garber-Conrad, who so ably assist- ed in the editing of the original and revised manuscripts. To Dr. Haroon Nasir, who verified source documents, prepared the refer- ence sources at the end of each chapter, and provided invaluable edi- torial and scientific advice. After that, the list is too lengthy to detail. It includes: con- sumers/users who are and were patients and clients; family mem- bers, friends, and volunteers who supported consumers; current and former staff in mental hospitals, general hospitals, and community clinics; authors, researchers, and reference staff in libraries and archives; psychiatrists and lawyers; politicians, their secretaries, and assistants; civil servants, and journalists. My sincere thanks to them all. Table of Contents Introduction . 1 Prologue . 5 Chapter 1 Bedlam . 15 Chapter 2 Moral Treatment; then Bedlam Again . 27 Chapter 3 Water, Weaving, Gardens, and Guesswork . 41 Chapter 4 The Mad Physician from the East. 59 Chapter 5 The Rules of Law . 77 Chapter 6 Prevention on the Cutting Edge . 95 Chapter 7 Sixty Beds to a Room and Liking It . 109 Chapter 8 Pills and Possibilities . 125 Chapter 9 Backwards from Back-wards . 139 Chapter 10 Hospital as Newsroom . 155 Chapter 11 The Premiers and the Professor. 173 Chapter 12 So, Who Gives a Damn . 191 Chapter 13 The Reality of Myth . 213 Chapter 14 Three Ministers and a Realtor. 233 Chapter 15 Delusions of Progress . 251 Chapter 16 The Honourables. 269 Epilogue . 295 Appendices IMilestones . 303 II Legal Table . 313 III Health and Social Services Evolution. 315 IV Premiers. 317 V Ministers . 319 VI Deputies and Directors . 321 VII Advocates: the Public, Families, and Consumers . 323 VIII Nominal Record . 327 Introduction Introduction Political Asylums is first and foremost a history of the experiences of people with mental illness in Alberta. It is not an academic text- book, but rather is written as a novel, attempting to capture the expe- riences of people over the past century. It differs from a novel, however, in that there is no fiction. All of the events are recorded or reported history, detailed in studies, reports, books, files, and per- sonal records, or as recalled by people who lived the events. Generally speaking, there was such a rich body of information avail- able in archives, libraries, newspapers, and through personal inter- views that the author had no shortage of raw material and needed only to organize the details into story format. All of the people are real, set within real events. There are no com- posites or fictional accounts. In order to protect identities, the names and places of residence for some of the people have been changed. A listing of real names and pseudonyms can be found in the nomi- nal record. 1 There were so many individuals and so much interesting material that the author could not possibly include all of the key historical figures that helped shape the mental health services of their time. Time and again, the author was tempted into one or another histori- cal detour, and he hopes that his choices will neither offend nor dis- appoint the many people who have worked in, or have been treated by, Alberta’s mental health system. In the interests of disclosure, it may be important to note that while the author’s own “character” is only rarely reported in the text, he personally witnessed and was sometimes intimately involved in the events recounted in these pages. His role however, was generally as a facilitator of others and whereas their action is reported, describ- ing the details of his personal involvement was seen as redundant and irrelevant. During the author’s research, he interviewed many former staff members of Alberta’s mental health services. One of them, a former psychiatric nurse from the Alberta Hospital at Ponoka in the 1950s, was particularly informative and colourful in the presentation of his experience. To the author’s question about staff competence, he thought for a moment and then expressed a personal view. “The rule of thirds would apply,” he said. “One-third were dedicated, compas- sionate, caring, and thoughtful. One-third put in the day with little care, and one-third were goons—cruel, harsh goons.” While this book paints several stories of people, programs, and prac- tices that were in many ways cruel and harsh, it is important to remember the many compassionate individuals who worked most of their lives under very difficult conditions. It takes a special kind of caring and a very real sense of purpose to see through the illness and to encourage the strengths of people who sometimes seem to need so much. As noted earlier, this is not a typical history book chronicling the events of an era. Rather, the focus is on people who lived the events of the day. It is a story of people who wielded extreme power and influence and of others who often lacked control—and hope. It is a story of inadequate resources for society’s most marginalized. It is a story about the disconnected components of a “non-system” of men- tal health care. It acknowledges that there were good services—pro- grams that worked. But for the most part, mental illness was the 20th 2 century’s equivalent of leprosy, a misunderstood disease so thor- oughly stigmatized that it almost invariably engendered fear, rejec- tion, isolation, and poverty. It still does. This book is also about the very meaning of madness, the influence of politics, and the power of economics. Finally, it is about giving the reader an opportunity to experience a place in time and in so doing, to learn from the events and lessons of history. There is one caution. It is important to understand the historical con- text in which treatment occurred and to guard against imposing today’s values on past practices.