[Canadian Mental Health Law: recognizing and rectifying a problematic situation]

This article explores several conundrums and attempts to identify ways of redirecting the Canadian ship of state. It first presents an overview of some of the salient features of the array of mainly coercive provincial and territorial mental health statutes. The failure in the main of the Charter to deliver on its early ostensible promises for people with mental health problems is assessed. Next, the author argues that extant legislation remains anchored in the medical model, when other human rights promoting paradigms transforms the statutory agenda.