Canadian Man Apprehended by Mental Health Authorities After Spending a Few Days Giving Away Money

Richard Wright spent last week giving
away silver coins and CA$50 and CA$100 bills across Halifax, Nova
Scotia. He was reportedly stopped by police for a “wellness check”
shortly after driving back to his hometown, Charlottetown, Prince
Edward’s Island, about 200 miles away.
According to The National Post:

“They think he is sick and has mental issues … but I
know he does not,” wrote Mr. Wright’s teenaged daughter, Chelsey,
in a Sunday night Facebook post.

Since Thursday, she wrote, her father has been held in the
psychiatric ward of Charlottetown’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, all
because “he had some extra money so he decided to share it around
with some homeless and needy people in Halifax and
Dartmouth.”

And strangely, Mr. Wright was hospitalized in P.E.I. only hours
after his mental condition had been given a pass by Halifax
psychiatrists.

Wright was stopped by cops in Halifax earlier, and police called
for a “Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team.” Police admitted he wasn’t
breaking any laws and said they let him go.

The local Metro in Halifax
reported
last week about the “mystery man” who was going around town
giving away money. Witnesses and recipients described him as
dressing normally, often telling them to thank God or “pay it
forward.” At least one pair of recipients attributed statements
about the “one percent” and taking the wealth back to the mystery
man, revealed as Wright in
this week’s reporting.

Various commenters at The National Post pointed out
that the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, and politicians
in Ottawa and provincial capitals could be committed for “handing
out money without a good reason” as the top post there puts it.

The mental health authorities in Prince Edward’s Island insist
Wright could not have been committed without two physicians
believing he could harm himself or others. Though the health
department says it’s restricted by privacy guidelines in what it
can share about the Wright case specifically, a spokesperson told
The Post that patients in their system are there “because
they can benefit from the care that we provide.”