The motion before council would earmark $4.5 million to the police and $1.5 million to the health authority from the city's operating budget to start hiring in January.
Mayor Ken Sim campaigned on a promise to hire 100 more officers and 100 mental health nurses for programs that partner police with nurses to respond to non-emergency mental health calls.
The idea, which is expected to cost a total of $20 million a year, has already received significant criticism from more than two dozen people speaking against the motion at an earlier meeting. Stacy Ashton, chair of the BC Crisis Line Network, says involving officers when a person is in a mental health crisis can be "hugely anxiety-provoking" if someone doesn't trust the police.
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