Each workday until GivingTuesday on December 2, we profile one of the wonderful volunteers who make APB so vital to access to justice in BC. Today's profiled volunteer is John You.

John is one of our new Mental Health Program volunteers. He's doing a great job providing free legal representation to people being detained involuntarily under the Mental Health Act. Here is how he describes the experience: 

"I am a recent graduate of UBC Law. I started volunteering with the Mental Health Program because I thought representing a patient at a Mental Health Review Board tribunal would help me get some experience in litigation.

Being an advocate, however, was challenging at times because patients often held on to delusional beliefs as a result of their mental illness. The last patient I represented also seemed to hold on to such beliefs. Moreover, contrary to his medical certificate, which stated that he was arrested multiple times, he was adamant that he was arrested only once. By this time, I had formed my own bias against people who have a mental disorder, and I assumed that he was delusional. I trusted the medical certificate because a doctor had signed it. My patient expressed his dissatisfaction with his doctor, but all of my previous patients were unhappy with their doctors. Why should this one be any different? Luckily, the other advocate, with the help of an APB Program Coordinator, discovered that my patient was telling the truth. That was when I realized why I was there. I wasn’t there to get some experience in litigation or a line in my resume, but I was there to advocate on behalf of my patient who was entitled to a fair hearing."