Answer raises more questions for London couple pushing for change

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A year after meeting high-ranking provincial officials about their son’s suicide, a London couple have a response.

That response is hardly definitive, and somewhat confusing, Joan and John Burns say.

“You get a little excited when you get an answer, but then you start thinking about the answer, and wonder, what are they actually saying?” Joan Burns said Monday. “I don’t think it gives me a lot of optimism.”

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But after 6 1/2 years of fighting, they’re willing to keep trying.

“Hopefully we will get an answer sooner or later, but it’s come to a point now where we’ve pretty well exhausted all avenues and research,” John Burns said.

The Burns’s son Kevin died by suicide Oct. 7, 2017, months after a change in status approved by an Ontario capacity assessor.

Born in 1979, Kevin was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 17 and his finances were supervised first by his parents then the Ontario Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee.

At Kevin’s request, without his parents’ knowledge, a social worker acting as an official capacity assessor determined in spring of 2017 that Kevin could handle his own financial affairs.

The assessor didn’t contact Kevin’s parents or psychiatrist, who all believed Kevin couldn’t handle his finances on his own.

Kevin went into debt, fell behind on his rent and binged shopped, before taking his own life with a multitude of prescription pills.

“I know some people will say, ‘Oh, he was mentally ill,’ but there was a catalyst there and the catalyst was the decision by the capacity assessor,” Joan said.

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Since his death, the Burns have worked to change Ontario regulations so assessors must contact health professionals before making decisions. British Columbia is one province that has that regulation.

That effort ran into several roadblocks but after The London Free Press contacted the province last summer, Michael Tibollo, associate minister of mental health and addictions, and ministry staff met the Burns on Aug. 21, 2023.

The Burns have continued to contact ministry representatives since, looking for updates on Tibollo’s promise to see what he could do.

Tibollo did reply once in January, emailing “The difficulties you and Kevin experienced with his community capacity assessment made a big impact on all in the room and we have brought your concerns back to Queen’s Park to review and discuss with our colleagues.”

He asked for their patience. The Free Press also has contacted Tibollo’s office to get updates, without success.

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The Burns’ latest attempt to get answers was Aug. 19, and a few days ago they received a reply from Tibollo’s chief of staff.

“The minister continues to be interested and supportive of your goals,” the email says.

Conversations with “colleagues” are continuing but “in the interest of keeping the discussion alive for all, I have some staff looking into several advocacy groups who are focused on this same issue; either independently or in conjunction with related matters,” the chief of staff said.

The ministry will connect the Burns with those groups and “hopefully this will serve to provide an additional avenue to keep flagging the issue publicly to those involved,” the chief of staff said.

The response has the Burns a bit mystified.

Who are the colleagues they’re talking to and are they the colleagues who can make changes? Joan wants to know.

“If they’re not talking to the people who set this up, how are they going to get changes if they don’t have them on board,” she said. “Why do they say there’s a need to keep conversation alive? If they can’t keep the conservation alive, who can?”

Joan also is wondering if and why the government wants the Burns to work with advocacy groups to push the very government that is providing the contacts?

“Is the ball coming back onto our lap. How much more publicly can we go?” Joan said.

Despite the questions, the Burns say they’ll wait and see what contacts the province provides and what officials expect them to do.

“It’s been a pretty exhausting 6 1/2 years. To be honest, I’m just not sure how much more we can do,” Joan said. “We’re not getting any younger. We have to hope that we get an answer sooner rather than later.”

rrichmond@postmedia.com

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