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

Oct/20/22 9:18:09 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I thank the member for sharing her story. It is a very important one and one that too many Nunavummiut relate to, because the youth suicide rate in Nunavut is quite high. Having said that, I know that one of the things that seem to be most effective for addressing suicide is to make sure that youth actually realize there is nothing wrong with them, because the way that suicide prevention works is to treat people as if there is something wrong with them. I wonder if the member agrees with me that when it comes to programming for youth, what can be more effective is to allow them to learn to express themselves in a healthy way and to help them with positive coping skills so that we are actually teaching them to withstand whatever challenges might come their way.

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Ms. Ya'ara Saks

Oct/20/22 9:19:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I had the honour and privilege of travelling through Iqaluit this summer with the member to see her work on the ground with youth and mental health in Nunavut and with young Inuk, and she is absolutely right. We should give our young people the tools to self-care and self-love, to be strong and to be proud of their heritage as indigenous youth and youth from new countries who make Canada home. If they do not feel they have a place here with the resources, hope and supports they need, whether it is peer to peer, peer to mentor or within a wraparound framework, as I mentioned previously, then we are failing them. As my colleague said earlier, this is not a partisan issue. We all get it. We are here because we get it, and we understand that there are many pieces of the puzzle. It takes a village to raise a child, and this Canadian village really needs to step up for its youth.

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Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, Lib.)

Oct/20/22 9:20:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for sharing her story. I want to give her an opportunity to elaborate a bit, given the fact that we have had a global pandemic with isolation and a lot of young people did not have the experience of graduating with their class or seeing their classmates. Has this actually increased the likelihood of seeing the supports needed for youth and mental health? Could she elaborate on that?

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Ms. Ya'ara Saks

Oct/20/22 9:21:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as a single mother to two teenage daughters, and one who just graduated, the answer is absolutely yes, it has had an impact on them. This is why an approach of building resiliency, communication, social skills and life skills for our young people is so crucial now more than ever.

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

Oct/20/22 9:21:26 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am thankful we are having this debate tonight because one thing we have heard, time and time again, is that mental health is affecting each and every Canadian. Whether it is a family member, a co-worker, a friend or a neighbour, we must recognize this. I will be splitting my time with the member for Battle River—Crowfoot this evening. I remain the chair of the status of women committee, which is doing a very important study on the mental health of young women and girls. I would like to talk about some of the work that we are doing on the study, but also about some of the things I am finding out with every single member who sits on that committee. There are 11 members, one male and 10 women, and I feel like I am sitting among friends. I feel that I can talk about mental health, as we are tonight, recognizing that there are many issues. One thing I am finding is that now is a time of camaraderie. It is a time when I am listening to people who many times I may oppose, but we are all sharing stories and that is so key for me. I am a mom. Like so many other people here, I am a parent and we have children. We tried to get through COVID-19 as best we could, but we know the impacts on our children. When I think of me and my five children, I can say that the last two and a half years were horrible. There is another word that starts with an “h”. It was just not a good place to be. I am not feeling sorry for members of Parliament, but we were there when people were going through a crisis. We were there when businesses were saying they had to lock their doors, when families were saying a family member was sick or a loved one passed away, and when people were separated from their loved ones because of border challenges. I think about those things. Last week at the status of women committee, we talked a lot about how children being out of school due to COVID was the worst thing possible. The kids needed to be together. The committee talked about dopamine today with Dr. Shanker. All of the things that kids need to grow were taken away from them for two and a half years. I hope my son is not listening to my speech tonight because I do not really like to talk about him, but he is a kid who played four sports. Whether it was volleyball, basketball, soccer, badminton, whatever he could play with a racquet or a ball, that is what he was doing. He was told that they were not playing sports anymore at his school. Not only was he not going to school, but they were not playing sports. Then they were told that they could not go to the playground to run around and throw hoops. My son was 17 at the time and that kid needed to get out. Today at the status of women committee we talked about how kids turned to social media and played video games, which was only hiding the pain and did not fix anything at all. When kids needed it the most, they were separated from people. We know that there is going to be a long journey back. I went through another crisis, and I am proud of it. I am proud and will never be ashamed of some of the things that happened to me and my family in the last two and a half years. I can talk about my own experience. I have turned my book over because I think it is time to just talk. When my family was going through a crisis, three moms called me that week because they too were in crisis and they had no one to turn to. I was so fortunate because I have the most amazing family, an awesome husband, phenomenal children and friends and neighbours who surrounded me. They watched as I was going through my own turmoil, while knowing that other parents needed us as well. That is why I am telling every single person here to be there when somebody needs them, to be there when one of their colleagues is going through something, because they never know when the shoe is going to drop for them. One never knows. In the first week of my little trauma, I really got to see that there were no services available when people really needed them. When I went through the crisis, there was nothing to help me, and when people were calling me, I was doing everything I could. We need to do more and I am urging the government to get that $4.5 billion out of the coffers, start directing it to the organizations that need it and start ramping up some of these services for our health care workers who are exhausted. They cannot be there any longer and are burning out. We need to do it now because the crisis is right at the edge, and it is only going to get worse.

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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)

Oct/20/22 9:26:34 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the member for sharing with us her personal experience of what she saw with her children and the importance of having mental health supports in place. I am also a parent and one thing I have noticed that has been impacting the mental health of a lot of children and youth is climate anxiety, which is basically the impact of climate change and the increase in anxiety as a result. I wonder if the member could share if she is hearing that from constituents and how she feels we could best address the impact of climate change and how it impacts the mental health of youth.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio

Oct/20/22 9:27:16 p.m.
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Madam Chair, that is a really interesting question. We know that when children see hurricanes or floods it is very concerning. I think right now there are multiple things that are concerning children. It is not just climate change, but definitely things like the economy. There are mental health issues children are going through. I am talking to kids who are working to put food on the table with their parents. I am speaking to people who are not getting their medication because they have not done their taxes and they do not have a health benefit card and are falling behind. There are so many things when it comes to this. Climate change is absolutely one out there, especially for our youth, and I think that we have to provide them hope for the future. Where we are right now, I am not trying say we are alarmists in a bad way, but what we have to do is look for healthy solutions that will help our children through this as well.

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Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, Lib.)

Oct/20/22 9:28:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank the member opposite for sharing her story. As the chair of the status of women committee, I am sure she has some insights for us regarding the impacts of gender-based violence on mental health. Would she like to touch on that? I know it is a huge subject, but could she share any thoughts on that?

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio

Oct/20/22 9:28:34 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the member so much, because I was going to talk about gender-based violence as one of the biggest issues when it comes to mental health. We know that over 60% of young women and girls are victims of sexual violence and unwanted harassment right now and that it has an impact on their mental health because they have had something taken away from them. In many cases, they have been stripped of their dignity. One hundred per cent we know there is a strong correlation between that and mental health. I would have liked to read an excerpt from the testimony of Carol Todd, Amanda Todd's mother, who was at one of our meetings, because when I look at Amanda Todd and her mother, it is right there. This is the type of work we can do for families and we need to do more.

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

Oct/20/22 9:29:24 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague not just for her intervention today, but also for the passion she has shown since we were elected in 2015. I know she does a lot of outreach work within her communities. There are some strong mental health organizations within her community that do incredible work on the ground. I know she is a champion of them so I want to give her an opportunity to talk about some of these incredible grassroots organizations that would benefit from the $4.5 billion that needs to flow to the provinces.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio

Oct/20/22 9:29:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the member's question has me really excited because I think of the organization #ivegotyourback911 in St. Thomas. It deals with the post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by our frontline workers. It is an absolutely incredible organization that is doing fundraising within our communities. It talks about those frontline workers needing those supports as well. Places like that are doing an excellent job. I also think of great organizations like the London Abused Women's Centre, and a variety of other organizations, such as the Rainbow Optimist Club of Southwestern Ontario. All of these different organizations have mandates. Some are helping youth in the LGBTQ community. Some are helping our professionals who are frontline workers. All of us need to come together. This is the great work we can do.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Oct/20/22 9:30:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as always, it is an honour to enter into debate in this place, especially when we are talking about something as important as mental health. As we have listened to much of the discourse that has taken place over the course of the evening, we have heard the common agreement and the importance of seeing that this issue is addressed, not in a partisan way or a political way, but truly and meaningfully addressed. As we look at the pure facts, about one-third of Canadians face some sort of mental health challenges. Literally, if we look to our left and we look to our right, it is one of the three people: the person on our left, ourselves, or the person on our right. This is the definition of something that impacts everyone. It is important that we acknowledge that mental health is health and the important distinction when it comes to addressing the specific aspects of what mental health care looks like. That needs to be at the core in the overall strategy by which we approach it from the federal perspective as we partner and work with the provinces and the municipal governments, and the many stakeholders involved. We looked at the many implications that mental health has and the consequences when there is not early intervention and early action. We see addictions. We see suicides. We see abuse and domestic challenges and many other effects that have significant impacts on every Canadian. There are very few things that affect every Canadian, but this truly is one of them. Between the ages of 15 and 35, the leading cause of death, tragically, is suicide. As we talk about the dynamics associated with mental health, I know we can look to family members. I have close experiences with members of my family and it is truly something that is very personal. Of course, there are the dynamics of access to things like care and there are the challenges associated with rural areas. In this very short intervention, I want to also talk about the fact that I am proud to represent Camp Wainwright, a military base, and the dynamics associated with mental health. We look back throughout the history at things like shell shock. There was a lack of understanding around many of those issues throughout much of our country's history. When it comes to warfare in general and military service in general, we see the importance. Now we have the opportunity to work with some veterans to try to help them navigate what can be a very complex system to get the supports that they need. Regarding PTSD or the other challenges that come along with service in the military, we note how important it is. Many of us read over the course of the summer that a veteran was offered MAID. It breaks my heart that somebody would be offered death as opposed to hope. I hope that would be a wake-up call for all of us to ensure that we are actively working toward making sure that mental health and care needed for veterans as well as for every Canadian is offered. We need to get down to the brass tacks of what we do about it. I was pleased in the last election how each and every party had a mental health plan. Although Conservatives got more votes, we did not win the most seats, but I am glad that each party represented in this place did have a mental health plan. Certainly, I hope that when it comes to the mental health transfer we can get those details sorted out, because those dollars need to get to the provinces so that they can get the supports that are needed. There is the 988 suicide helpline, which I am so proud to be a part of with the member for Cariboo—Prince George. I am so proud to serve in a caucus where we have that advocacy. I wish there would be more opportunity to share the other ways. I will simply wrap up by saying that this is a great conversation to have, but it has to result in action. I hope we can do that together.

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

Oct/20/22 9:36:16 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have more of a comment than a question. I do not want to put the member on the spot. One thing I have observed is that there is a lot of expertise and a lot of insight in this House, at the federal level, into the problem of mental health. I know that typically, when we have funding for health-related initiatives, provinces say they are closer to the situation, therefore they do not want any directives associated with the transfer of funding. This is a case in which I believe there is a great deal of expertise at the federal level, and we should fine-tune our initiative and transfer of funds to make sure all aspects of this extremely complex ecosystem that is mental health receive the measure of support they need to be truly effective.

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Mr. Damien Kurek

Oct/20/22 9:37:05 p.m.
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Madam Chair, part of the reason there is so much expertise represented is that there are 338 people: By the pure numbers, over 100 individuals in this House have personally experienced mental health challenges, and we all know and have walked alongside those who have as well. There is a lot of expertise, and that needs to help to make sure we can get dollars out the door. I would just offer this. Health care in our country is provincial jurisdiction. I hope that as we discuss both the Canada mental health transfer and everything associated with the mental health action plan and everything that is needed to ensure that the supports get out the door, like 988, etc., we will not get lost in the details, but rather make sure that supports get out the door. Let us work as partners, not as dictators in saying how provinces should or should not spend dollars, but truly work collaboratively in a partnership to ensure that those supports can simply get out the door.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Oct/20/22 9:38:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot could attest that it is very rare that we get along or find common ground on issues, but this is one tonight on which I really do appreciate his speech. It was excellent. He talked about a sense of urgency. He shared his personal story and his vulnerability. It was very generous. We have an issue that we are seeing around this House, which is the need to deal with the patchwork of the provinces that deliver health and the urgency of the need to get resources out to them. We saw that urgency when it came to child care, but the government has not demonstrated that here, on this issue. Margaret Eaton, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, stated that even if the immediate impacts of COVID-19 are subsiding, the mental health effects persist and will likely continue for years to come. The community mental health and addictions sector cannot meet these growing needs with the current patchwork funding and disjointed service delivery model. It is time to overhaul our mental health system. I cannot say enough about how much—

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The Deputy Chair

Oct/20/22 9:39:12 p.m.
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I am sorry, I do have to allow for one more brief question after this. I want to allow the member to respond to the comments. The hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot.

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Mr. Damien Kurek

Oct/20/22 9:39:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, often we do disagree on things, policy-related and whatnot. However, I am so pleased that there is common agreement. We may differ a little on what that action looks like, but I am so pleased that in this House, and across the country, we could find significant agreement with our provincial counterparts to ensure that we simply get to work. With respect to the consequences of COVID, although we are seeing the pandemic-related measures subside, the consequences of the mental health side of things are going to be long felt. That certainly has to be addressed when developing both the frameworks surrounding the health transfer and other related areas of policy regarding mental health in Canada.

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Mr. Larry Maguire (Brandon—Souris, CPC)

Oct/20/22 9:40:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, earlier I mentioned that I did not think we had enough resources all across the country, but particularly in rural areas. I know my colleague comes from a rural area in Alberta. I wonder if he could expand on that as well.

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Mr. Damien Kurek

Oct/20/22 9:40:29 p.m.
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Madam Chair, absolutely. We need to ensure that rural has equitable and full access to these services. That is part of the reason I was so excited. I represent about 64 self-governing municipalities in rural Alberta. The majority of them passed motions at their village councils, saying that a 988, although in many cases in their debate and whatnot it was said that it would not be a solution, was such an important tool to ensure that there was a consolidation of services. It made sure that especially in rural areas, where they could be an hour or two from a hospital or three or four hours from a police call, those resources are accessible by simply pressing three buttons on a phone. Among many other things, that was an important part.

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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)

Oct/20/22 9:41:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am happy to be here today, and I am honoured to share my time with the member for Milton. I am honoured to rise today and speak in the take-note debate brought forward by my NDP colleague and member of Parliament for Courtenay—Alberni around the mental health crisis that is having a ripple effect on Canadians across the country. I am inspired by the tremendous work, dedication and heart that my colleague shows every day in his work to address the mental health and toxic substance emergency we are currently facing. I am also proud to see all parties coming together to debate this important issue. We know that 50% of Canadians experience a mental illness by the age of 40. However, compounding and interconnected with the mental health crisis is the climate crisis. Just this week in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, there was another air quality warning, with smoke blanketing our beautiful island. It is currently nearing late October, a time when residents of Vancouver Island are normally outfitted in their favourite rain jackets and rain boots, but instead the grass is dry and the sky is smoky with the unusually warm and dry weather conditions being experienced by much of the province of British Columbia, and this has been happening for weeks. Extreme and unseasonable weather in B.C. and across the country continue to be more and more common. These catastrophic weather events, including flooding, fires and droughts, do not only impact our physical health, damage our homes and threaten food crops, but they impact our mental health. As expected, the prevalence of climate anxiety continues to rise. Climate anxiety was never more evident than in my work directly with children and youth in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith. As the effects of the climate crisis unfold, the anxiety that follows continues to rise. I hear loud and clear from youth in Nanaimo—Ladysmith public schools, for example, that they are worried about their future and are demanding all levels of government to step up and make the changes and decisions necessary to save our planet and their future. Instead, these youth watch as the government purchases pipelines and billions of dollars of subsidies are handed to big oil and gas, which further exacerbates the climate crisis. Youth in my riding are sharing with me that they are feeling hopeless that those who are in positions who can make a difference today to ensure a future for tomorrow are choosing to continue on with the same patterns of behaviour that have resulted in the climate crisis we are experiencing today. They are hopeless that the leaders today are choosing profit over the health of the planet. Hopelessness is a significant indicator of suicidality. These youth deserve better. These youth deserve hope. As the climate crisis continues to impact us all, the health and well-being of Canadians will continue to be impacted. Instead of prevention, health care workers are left to respond to often preventable and complex health conditions within an overwhelmed health care system. While Canadians continue to feel the impacts of COVID-19, more and more Canadians are experiencing mental illness, and substance use is steadily on the incline. The toxic substance crisis continues to tragically take the lives of loved ones. On average in B.C., six or more people die a day. Again, that is six people a day. We are losing loved ones at a rate like never seen before in this toxic substance crisis. These are deaths that could have been prevented if the recommendations of health experts were being followed, recommendations such as access to harm reduction supports, affordable and accessible mental health care, decriminalization of substances and on-demand treatment, to name just a few. Canadians so desperately need to see leadership at the federal level to give much-needed hope that we are in fact a country that takes care of one another. It bears mentioning once again what Margaret Eaton from the Canadian Mental Health Association said. She said: Even if the immediate impacts of COVID-19 are subsiding, the...mental health and addiction sector cannot meet these growing needs with the current patchwork funding and disjointed service delivery model. It's time to overhaul our mental health system. This current patchwork system will continue to be seen in our provinces and territories until we see federal leadership through the commitments made by this government to provide the mental health funding required. We know that positive mental health and well-being allows us to fully enjoy life, better cope with stress and bounce back from setbacks. Canadians need this government to follow through with their election platform to create a permanent mental health transfer to the provinces and territories to expand and improve mental health care. The commitment of $4.5 billion over five years would save lives and make a positive impact on the health and well-being of Canadians. Let us give Canadians hope.

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