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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Oct/20/22 8:39:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the hon. member for her acknowledgement. Indeed, we need to do everything in our power to make sure that we not only focus on parity between mental health and physical health, but also resolve the issue of the disparity that exists specifically for the indigenous community. I have been advocating for parity since 2015. As I am becoming more aware and more educated on the issue of the disparity that exists among indigenous and non-indigenous, I felt that it is time for me to also advocate for the indigenous and, indeed, make sure that we have not only the support at the professional level but also the support at other levels. I talked about the social determinants of health being housing, being education, being support and being community. All of those will go a long way in helping to address the disparity that exists.

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Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Oct/20/22 8:41:14 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I must have misunderstood or misheard my hon. colleague in reference to a question that was asked earlier about one of the challenges we are facing with respect to the government's dollars and why they are not flowing. I think I heard him say that it was an issue with the provinces. I am wondering if he could clarify that.

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Mr. Majid Jowhari

Oct/20/22 8:41:44 p.m.
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Madam Chair, to my colleague, who I have had the honour of knowing since 2015 and working with him, let me clarify. Health care and specifically mental health is a multi-jurisdictional issue. It is the responsibility of the federal government as well as the provincial government. We need both partners to come to the table and focus on the outcome, which is the health and the mental health and well-being of all Canadians, indigenous and non-indigenous, rather than squarely blaming the provincial government. I thank the member for correcting me if I came across in that way.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

Oct/20/22 8:42:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time today with the member for Brandon—Souris. Five minutes to talk about mental health is certainly not enough time. I appreciate the grace and vulnerability that has been shared tonight. I also appreciate that every single member in the House has been touched by mental health. I appreciate that everyone acknowledges that this is a crisis. However, my frustration and anger is at a bubbling point, just like many Canadians around this country. We do not need more advocacy. We need leadership. This week, 31-year-old Burnaby RCMP officer, a member of the detachment's mental health and homeless outreach team, just three years into her career, Constable Shaelyn Yang was fatally stabbed while attending a homeless campsite before 11 a.m., in broad daylight. I want to tell the House what our Prime Minister said. This is a quote from yesterday in question period: We need to do more to step up on our mental health funding, as the hon. member before mentioned. He was referring to the hon. member for Cariboo—Prince George, who has been an advocate and has done great work. The Prime Minister went on to say: We need to make sure that we are giving our frontline police officers the tools to be supported as they encounter difficult situations. We need to make sure they are not the only mental health workers out there accessible to so many people. Unfortunately they have been. They have been extraordinary at it, but we need to provide better support. The provinces and the federal government need to work together to fund more mental health supports. That is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—

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The Deputy Chair

Oct/20/22 8:44:10 p.m.
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Members cannot use names. I just want to remind members to please respect the rules of the House. The hon. member for Peterborough—Kawartha.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Oct/20/22 8:44:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we cannot use names. I appreciate that. My frustration lies in that, if the Prime Minister is not able to do more, then who is? Who is able to do more, if at the highest level of our federal government, we cannot do more? There are two things that a leader needs to do: listen and act. There have been countless people coming here to committees. For years and decades, people have been telling us, parliamentarians, what is wrong. Why are we not listening? Why are we not acting. We need leadership. I want to focus on the UNICEF report card, 2020 release. These are quotes from the report card: ...Canada is worlds apart from other rich countries in providing healthy, happy childhoods for every child. Canada ranks among the countries with the best economic, environmental and social conditions for growing up, but the poorest outcomes for children and youth.... Canada falls below average in more than half the measures of child well-being. I also says, “Canada ranks lowest in child survival”, ranking 35 out of 38 in teen suicides, and 33 out of 38 in child violence, including homicide. The UNICEF report card rates Canada as not making progress relative to other rich countries. It says, “Canada has been making little to no progress in reducing child mortality, obesity or bullying” and “Canada has been falling backward in children’s sense of well-being” and in the quality of their close relationships. It also says: Canada is one of only a handful of countries...that have better economic, environmental and social conditions but worse child well-being.... Canada’s governments spend less on families and children than most wealthy countries. If this does not disgust the House, I do not know what should. If we do not take care of our children, we do not have a future. How can our children be taken care of when the adults are not taken of? We have made so many strides in overcoming stigma. People are ready to go ask for help, but when they do, there is nothing there for them. I am sorry. I adore the work my colleague has done on this file. He is so passionate about mental health, like so many people in the House are, but when our lead is mental health is health, that is 20 years behind where we should be. We know mental health is health. Why are we not transferring the $4.5 billion promised by the federal government to make a difference? On the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health recommendations, listen and act. That is leadership. Listen to what they are asking. Take immediate steps to create a mental health transfer allocating permanent, ongoing federal funding for mental health services starting in budget 2023. This is consistent with the multi-year funding promised in the 2021 election platform. People are dying. What more is needed? There is action we could take today, and I call on the government and everyone in the House. This is non-partisan. This impacts everyone of us. Make the difference today. We need leadership. We need to listen, and we need to act.

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)

Oct/20/22 8:47:40 p.m.
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Madam Chair, it is really heartening to be here in the House tonight and to hear all of us agreeing on the desperate need for having more done in this field, but it often comes down to spending. I often hear from the members opposite the need for fiscal restraint, the need for us not to spend as much, that our spending is causing inflation and that the things this government is doing to help all Canadians and to try to help people with these issues are problematic. I am wondering how the member opposite reconciles that with the calls now, considering we have already given $5 billion in bilateral agreements for mental health since this government was formed in 2015.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Oct/20/22 8:48:36 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what we do on this side of the House is make sure money is spent well. We know where money should go. When we have an app that should have cost less than $250,000 and it cost $54 million and the government does not even know where it is, that is what we are talking about when we talk about fiscal constraint. There is so much wasted money, and money is a sliver of the piece of the pie. One needs political will, a strategy and a plan. It is absolutely insulting for the member to say that when there is so much wasteful spending. That is not what we are talking about. There is a promised budget of $4.5 billion from the Liberal government and we have not seen it.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Oct/20/22 8:49:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I really appreciate my colleague speaking to the sense of urgency. I have a quote from Children's Mental Health Ontario, CMHO, which reads: Kids have borne the weight of this pandemic. They continue to wait on lists for care that were already too long pre-pandemic—some waiting as long as two and a half years in parts of Ontario. The longer kids wait for care, the worse their outcomes are—increasing the likelihood of a mental health crisis or having to visit an emergency room for care. We can do better. We can do better, and I think we all agree children need to be our priority. The Liberals say they cannot get it done because the provinces and territories cannot get an agreement. They were able to do it with child care. Does my colleague agree that the stigma is the problem? If this was truly a priority, they would have the provinces and the territories at the table and would have negotiated an agreement by now.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Oct/20/22 8:50:17 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my hon. colleague has done so much work, and we definitely share similarities in how we feel about this. There is a lack of political will. There is too much virtue signalling. He is absolutely right. There is an opportunity to do it and it is not being done. If we do not take care of our children, what are we saying to our country? I really agree fully with what my hon. colleague said.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)

Oct/20/22 8:50:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I know this colleague. I have worked with her very closely when we talk about mental health, especially with women and girls. One thing we have been talking about lately is self-regulation. Perhaps she can share with this House one of the aspects of what we can put into a policy.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Oct/20/22 8:51:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I love that question from my hon. colleague, because it is about action and accountability, which is what we are really missing here, and that part of leadership. When we talk about self-regulation, this is one of the many tools we could be building into a national framework to educate parents, caregivers, coaches, teachers and frontline workers, who are all burnt out. Every one of our frontline workers and service providers are completely burnt out. They are supposed to be the calm provider of counsel, and they cannot do that because they themselves cannot regulate. Under the work of Dr. Stuart Shanker, which we have learned about in the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we know self-regulation is a very effective tool that would be used to teach and help long term. It is a sustainable model that will change how we all manage stress and it is an excellent tool. We need to start practising action.

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Mr. Larry Maguire (Brandon—Souris, CPC)

Oct/20/22 8:52:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleagues for initiating this take-note debate on mental health. While we may have different ideas on ways the federal government can assist the provinces, municipalities, organizations and families, it is imperative that we do not let this issue fall by the wayside, which has been addressed in many of the questions that have come up this evening. As we all know, there are significant challenges when it comes to helping those who desperately need access to mental health and addiction services. We have all had our mental health impacted from various circumstances, but particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19. Breaking the routine of our daily lives impacts us all. In the last election, I ran on a few specific mental health proposals that I felt would help improve the lives of those who need that help. We proposed that the federal government partner with the provinces by dedicating a significant portion of stable, predictable health funding to mental health to ensure that an additional million Canadians can receive mental health treatment every year. I noted the Liberals were also offering something similar, as has been talked about this evening, which was the introduction of a mental health transfer of $4.5 billion over five years. Unfortunately, that has yet to materialize, but, hopefully, the conversation we are having tonight will spur some action. In the last election, we also proposed that the government encourage employers to add mental health coverage to their employee benefit plans by offering a tax credit of 25% of the cost of additional mental health coverage. We know that the government cannot solve this problem alone, and we must leverage existing benefit plans to help add capacity and funding to the system. Another idea was to create a pilot program to provide grants to non-profits and charities delivering mental health and wellness programming. In communities and neighbourhoods across the country, there are already non-profits and charities supporting those in need. If the government can provide small grants for them to expand their operations and to use their existing infrastructure and networks, it could have an immense and immediate impact for those they serve. Just this past week in the city of Brandon, my hometown, the Samaritan House Ministries, which does fantastic work under the leadership of Barbara McNish, announced that it has reached a crisis point. It goes without saying that the people of Brandon and area are incredibly generous and kind. From grocery stores to everyday citizens, people are stepping up to donate what they can. However, the demands coming through the door at the Samaritan House are so great that it needs help too. Tonight, I am here to plead with the federal government to immediately make the financial resources available to places like Samaritan House to ensure no one goes without a bed this winter. As the cold weather will soon be on its way, it is in desperate need of expansion. In the past couple of years, the number of people in need of emergency housing in the city of Brandon has doubled. There are many reasons for this, such as addictions, mental health issues, poverty and food insecurity. The people at the Women's Resource Centre in Brandon also say the centre is working with a record high number of women experiencing homelessness. With the dramatic rise of energy, food and housing prices, it is only expected these numbers will continue to grow. I am also here to call on the federal government to immediately work with local organizations in the community to build more co-op housing. The co-op housing model works. In the city of Brandon, the federal government will find willing partners who are ready to build if the funds are made available. Like many communities, we are also seeing an increased number of people who are battling addictions. Not only do we need to send a strong message to organized gangs who are bringing and distributing illicit drugs into our communities, but we need to offer people suffering addictions a way out. We need to revise the federal government's substance abuse policy framework to make recovery its overarching goal. We also need to orient the Canadian drugs and substances strategy toward ensuring that everyone suffering from addiction has the opportunity to recover and lead a drug-free life. In the last election, I ran on a commitment to create 1,000 residential drug treatment beds and build 50 recovery community centres across the country. Without timely access to addiction services, we will never be able to help people recover. In closing, I urge members to go back to their caucuses and be a mental health advocate. i ask my colleagues in the Liberal caucus to please review the ideas I have put forward and adopt them.

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Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Oct/20/22 8:57:42 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to offer my hon. colleague a little bit more time to finish his speech.

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Mr. Larry Maguire

Oct/20/22 8:57:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I offer my thanks to my colleague. I had two more lines. Communities such as the city of Brandon and, in particular, organizations such as Samaritan House, need the federal government to step up to help. I am willing to work with any member of the government to get this done. My door is always open, like all of my colleagues, I am sure, in the whole House, but we need help. The government has the power to bring these issues forward, get the mental health transfer in place and begin action on a whole host of solutions, which I have put on the table tonight.

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Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)

Oct/20/22 8:58:26 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I appreciated the member's thoughtful speech and concrete suggestions. There is one issue which really has not been raised that I am curious about. We have heard a lot about the shortage of nurses, especially post-COVID. We know that people who are in distress need friendship, support and compassion from the people around them, but they also need qualified professional help. I am just wondering what the state of the availability of expertise is in this country. I am not suggesting that the member would have the answer to this. It is more of a rhetorical question. Do we have enough qualified individuals, mental health workers and psychologists in this country to fill the need, which is obviously a glaring need and probably a growing need? I think this is something we need to discuss because it does not seem to have come into the equation very often.

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Mr. Larry Maguire

Oct/20/22 8:59:36 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I certainly am very glad that my colleague asked that question because it is a very important one, and it is one that I did not have enough time to fully flesh out in my speech earlier this evening. I spoke to Chief Balcaen, the head of the Brandon police, this past week as well. I got caught up on the situation that has caused a lot of the homelessness, which puts a lot of stress on everyone's mental health. I also mentioned the increasing prices of food, heat and energy. The other area we are struggling with is in our rural areas. Number one, even if there were enough health workers to meet the need, people would have to travel great distances to get that service. There are not enough support workers in, I would say, just about any area of Canada. There are certainly not enough psychologists or mental health workers in other areas. There has been an increasing number of people who are dealing with homelessness and mental health issues. As I said, in Brandon it has doubled over the last number of years. From the statistics I have seen, I know that is relevant to just about every city in Canada. We certainly do need an increase in the number of health workers in the mental health field.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)

Oct/20/22 9:01:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the member mentioned the challenges in rural communities and the lack of access. In urban centres, and most definitely in rural communities as well, there are individuals who cannot access services because of language barriers. That is one of the most difficult things I have been hearing about from a lot of people, especially in the face of COVID. I have had seniors come up to me who are distressed. They have experienced trauma, yet they cannot get the mental health support they need because of language barriers. Would he support a call for the government to also fund interpretation and supports in language to access mental health support?

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Mr. Larry Maguire

Oct/20/22 9:01:56 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my colleague has worked at the immigration committee for a long time. I was there a few years ago, and we worked together then. That is a very good question. I certainly believe that part of the mental health transfer of that $4.5 billion over five years could go toward that kind of education and opportunity because that does put a lot of stress on people, particularly when they cannot communicate. I think the communication part is just as important as providing health workers so that people's particular circumstances can be understood.

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)

Oct/20/22 9:02:48 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as many of my colleagues have said, five minutes is far too little to speak to this issue, but it is a privilege to be here in the House this evening representing the riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill to speak in this take-note debate. Before I begin my comments, I would like to inform the Chair that I will be sharing my time with the member for York Centre. I am a new member of Parliament, so I was somewhat astounded when I heard people say that this is the first debate we have had in the House on mental health. It is such an important issue, and as a member opposite said, we are far beyond talking about whether mental health is health. We all agree it is, and we know it is an urgent issue. I appreciate the vulnerability and the candour of everyone sharing their personal experiences. I too have lived experience with mental health challenges in my family, and I know the effects they can have on people leading to a serious disease. There is such a range when we talk about mental health. We talk about mental health and mental illness, but while talking about severe mental illness and talking about trauma, whether for veterans or those living with abuse, these all have different manifestations, so I think just saying “mental health” sometimes does not really do it justice, because it would be like, in other areas of health, just talking about cancer. There are so many types, so many treatments and so many needs. I agree with all I have heard this evening on the urgent need for more support and more funding, but I would also like to say I am very proud to be part of a government that has the first Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. We have made considerable commitments in this area. We have already spent over $5 billion on new bilateral agreements. In addition, during the pandemic, we had support for organizations that were providing mental health, and one area I would like to talk about is women and mental health, because COVID was often called a “she-cession”. I think it affected women in many ways, and one of them was women's mental health. In my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, there are organizations that have done such great work helping women to cope with mental health crises, and as we know, the health crises and health challenges women are facing affect the entire family, in particular children. The work the Women's Centre of York Region has done, along with that done by the Yellow Brick House and the Sandgate shelter, has been so important for supporting women during this pandemic. Also, the CMHA in our area is working with women, but it is also developing one of the first mental health crisis hubs in our area, and this is an innovative hub that will be an alternative to emergency rooms for families and will connect families and individuals with the supports that are available in the region. This is so important, because as we know that immediate help is often needed. I believe our government has committed $4.5 billion in continued health support for mental health, and we have a responsibility to ensure that this money is used effectively and efficiently, and that there is transparency, so we are continuing to work with the partners, territories and provinces to ensure that there is clear and transparent reporting and that there are standards that we will all work together and collaborate on to address this mental health crisis. It is really amazing to hear all of us here agreeing that there is a need for this kind of support, and I think that we can all work together to move this forward and to ensure these needs are taken care of urgently, so the people out there who need the help can receive it.

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