Mental health advocate Mark Henick is also in favour of the move. Should he be granted permission to move to a group home, Li will have a curfew, as well as around-the-clock staff to make sure he takes his medication. "If he were to stop taking his medication he's not going to become psychotic within an hour or overnight, because the medication stays in your bloodstream for…several weeks," said Chris Summerville, the executive director of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada. "Essentially what the government is giving my mom for Mother's Day…(is) giving Vince Li a little more freedom this year," de Delley said.ĭespite the family's concerns, mental health experts insist that risks are minimal. In February, the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board granted Li unsupervised daytrips to the city, after his doctor said that he had shown "profound improvement" and was a low risk to reoffend.Īt the rally on Saturday, McLean's brother Kendall said that he couldn't make sense of the decision. Li, who suffers from schizophrenia and has been living at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, was found not criminally responsible for mutilating and beheading 22-year-old McLean on a Greyhound bus bound for Winnipeg. The letter goes on to say that the purpose of the outings is to create a "gradual transition to reside there." On Friday, de Delley posted a letter to Facebook from the review board informing her that Li could be granted overnight passes to group homes in the community. The decision is pending the hospital’s recommendation. More than 40 people gathered outside the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg, to protest Vince Li's potential move to a group home. "I've got 10 grandchildren now and it terrifies me the world we're leaving to them," Carol de Delley told CTV News. “I will say, yes, he absolutely understands that he has to (take his medication) and has a desire to live a responsible, moral life and never succumb to psychotic episodes and not to hurt anybody ever again.The mother of Tim McLean, who was beheaded on a Greyhound bus in 2008, made an emotional plea at a rally on Saturday against increased freedoms for the man who killed her son. “He is no longer a violent person,” Summerville said. He said earlier in the week it would be an insult to de Delley and McLean’s other relatives.īaker’s defenders include Chris Summerville, executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, who has met and worked with him over the years. Opposition Conservative member of Parliament James Bezan also criticized Baker’s release. The ruling added there must be clear evidence of a significant risk to the public for the review board to continue imposing conditions after a person is found not criminally responsible. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1999 that a review board must order an absolute discharge if a person doesn’t pose a significant threat to public safety. He severed McLean’s head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said. As passengers fled the bus, Baker continued stabbing and mutilating the body before he was arrested. He repeatedly stabbed McLean while he fought for his life. Baker emigrated to Canada from China in 2001 and became a Canadian citizen four years ago.īaker sat next to the 22-year-old McLean on the bus after the man smiled at him and asked how he was doing.īaker said he heard the voice of God telling him to kill the man or “die immediately.” He is on the waiting list for a post-secondary training program and plans on establishing a career in the city. Waldman said Baker plans to visit his native China if released but would live in Winnipeg for the next two to three years. Baker poses a significant threat to the safety of the public.” In a written decision, the review board said it “is of the opinion that the weight of evidence does not substantiate that Mr.
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