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1830
1839-05-11: Ontario passes “An Act to Authorise the Erection of an Asylum within this Province for the Reception of Insane and Lunatic Person.”
1860
1865: First proto-eugenics articles by Francis Galton in MacMillan's Magazine
1866-02-20: Gregor Mendel publishes his paper, “Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden”
1867: Ugly Laws
1867: Canadian Constitution Act gives federal parliament legislative authority over "Indians, and Lands reserved for Indians"
1869: Galton publishes Hereditary Genius
1870
1870: Canadian Residential Schools in operation
1871: Charles Darwin publishes The Descent of Man

British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."

British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."

1873 British Columbia’s first legislation addressing mental illness, the Insane Asylums Act, was passed by the provincial legislature in 1873. According to this Act, persons deemed to be “lunatics” could be committed to an insane asylum upon certificates issued by doctors who examined the patient in each other’s presence.

This was the principal mental health law in the province until 1897, when the Hospitals for the Insane Act was enacted.

-Caroline Lyster

  • Vancouver Sun. (2012). A brief history of the treatment of mental illness in B.C. Canada.com. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=5496270b-bf1b-449e-9b81-fc1705224f76.

British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."

British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."

1873 British Columbia’s first legislation addressing mental illness, the Insane Asylums Act, was passed by the provincial legislature in 1873. According to this Act, persons deemed to be “lunatics” could be committed to an insane asylum upon certificates issued by doctors who examined the patient in each other’s presence.

This was the principal mental health law in the province until 1897, when the Hospitals for the Insane Act was enacted.

-Caroline Lyster

  • Vancouver Sun. (2012). A brief history of the treatment of mental illness in B.C. Canada.com. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=5496270b-bf1b-449e-9b81-fc1705224f76.