For more than two decades, St. George resident Darrell Tidd has been navigating New Brunswick’s fractured mental health care system on behalf of his son. What began as a search for basic school support has grown into a long campaign for accountability, reform, and dignity in the treatment of vulnerable patients.

Tidd’s son, Devon, was diagnosed in childhood with high-functioning autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and other disorders. From the start, the family struggled to secure adequate classroom assistance.

“The journey really began at the elementary and high school level with trying to get my son extra help,” Tidd recalled.

As Devon grew older, his needs eventually surpassed what his family could manage at home. He was placed in group homes and later in provincial and federal institutions. One winter, he went missing from a care facility and was found outside in freezing conditions.

“It almost cost my son’s life,” Tidd said, calling the incident a profound failure of oversight.

Determined to seek accountability, Tidd became a lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the Restigouche Hospital Centre, the province’s main psychiatric facility. The case resulted in a $17 million settlement, though Tidd cannot discuss its details. Devon was later transferred to the Shepody Healing Centre, a federal institution designed primarily for correctional purposes.

The financial strain of such placements is immense. Tidd said he was told the province pays nearly $30,000 a month for each patient housed at Shepody—an arrangement he views as both fiscally unsustainable and ill-suited to patients’ needs.

Beyond his own family’s struggles, Tidd has become a persistent voice for systemic change. He argues that New Brunswick urgently needs a dedicated mental health advocate, a position promised in 2019 but never filled.

“It’s time to stop doing reports and put things into action,” he said.

He has also called for the creation of regional residential facilities for patients with exceptional needs. “Why can’t we have care facilities in the major centres across this province?” he asked.

For Tidd, the fight is deeply personal, but it is also about ensuring that others do not endure the same hardships. His years of advocacy reflect both frustration with a system he calls broken and hope that the province can still build something better.