Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Motion No. 14, Senator Kutcher’s motion regarding further study of the federal government’s Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention.

While I applaud the intent, I do have concerns with about this motion. Suicide is a very important issue, but I am wary of yet another study. My constituents in Nunavut, who are dealing with suicide and its impacts every day, need action instead of more studies. We now face a plethora of strategies: the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy, the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, Changing Directions, Changing Lives: The Mental Health Strategy for Canada, and so forth. Many of these frameworks, strategies and studies are designed by southern non-Inuit.

The actions that my constituents in Nunavut need include multi-year, flexible federal funding and a whole-of-government approach. I would rather hear more about the specifics of what they need so that we know exactly what to push the government for. It removes the subjective markers of what is counted as progress and what isn’t. Instead, the question is: Did you deliver the funding or the programs that people are clamouring for?

I wish to thank the Senate for allowing me to speak to my constituents in their first language, no doubt haltingly. I will now speak in Inuktitut. There is an interpreter here. I thank the Senate for arranging that.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Patterson spoke in Inuktitut — translation follows.]

I will be speaking to what is being done in Nunavut. We don’t just want more studies. We want our knowledge. We have lost our own loved ones to suicide, and some people whom we know. This has been happening for a long time now. There are many people from Nunavut who have experienced suicide. There are many reasons why people commit suicide, and I, along with all the people of Nunavut, am affected negatively when a suicide happens.

People have come to me and asked for help to prevent more suicides. There are many reasons behind a suicide, but we do not really know what triggers a suicide. One of the many reasons is trauma. Other reasons are residential schools, the relocation of people, the massacre of dogs, tuberculosis and other things such as mental illness and the banning of the seal skins by people such as Greenpeace. These have greatly affected the lives of Inuit. Those are just some of the reasons. Another factor is a lack of housing and other major gaps in the quality of living that we endure daily.

Since the root cause of most suicides among Inuit is trauma, the best programs to deal with the loss, anger and harm it causes to Inuit are programs led by Inuit.

The Inuit should be involved in administering programs or delivering programs based on their knowledge, based on Inuit knowledge, because they know their land and their environment best.

Longtime northerners know what those programs should be because we have heard the decades of discussions and read many studies that all say the same thing. Nunavummiut need programs that help them learn cultural skills and get them back on the land. They need supports to continue learning vital cultural skills, like sewing, sealskin preparation and hunting. They need to learn about the manufacture and maintenance of hunting equipment.

They need to learn cultural skills, a large part of their culture and hunting skills. These are the skills that sustain the lives of Inuit and have sustained the lives of Inuit, for they are survival skills. While this may not seem connected to suicide prevention, it is important to know that all these skills are ennobling and uplifting. A deeper connection to one’s culture gives strength and stability. Trades and hobbies give purpose, as opposed to folks seeking to fill the void with drugs and alcohol.

[English]

Additionally, high unemployment and overcrowded housing means that people are simply surviving instead of living. If we’re able to tackle these issues, it gives people space to then focus on healing and wellness. Programs must be delivered in Inuktitut so that people can speak with their hearts as opposed to trying to explain complex feelings and thoughts across a language and cultural barrier.

Training and involving Inuit in the delivery of these programs is necessary. When you are at rock bottom, you need people who will provide support and walk with you, guiding you along the way. When you’re disconnected, it can be quite confusing. We need people there in communities and available 24/7. We need to acknowledge that our elders are our knowledge keepers and they know what community members are experiencing. Our 25 communities hold people who can do this work with training and support.

I will close in Inuktitut with some comments from an elder.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Patterson spoke in Inuktitut — interpretation follows.]

An elder has said to me that we need to start using our cultural perspectives again to help prevent more suicides. We need to stand on what we know as Inuit, to stand up again.

[English]

So when we call on our Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee to study a subject as important as preventing soul-destroying suicide, I think we need to keep in mind that the review of programs and initiatives must include a Northern Canadian lens and may need to be expanded to other programs and initiatives that southerners may not classify as related but that Inuit would certainly view as integral to fighting the suicide epidemic we face in the North.

I would close by flagging that what Senator Kutcher has proposed is a thorough, academic fact-based study of the federal approach to suicide prevention and review of 20 years’ worth of programs. At least that’s how I see it. If followed to the letter, however, it would take up a significant amount of time in a committee that, like all committees, currently meets only once a week and will likely be bogged down with legislation in the foreseeable future. I would caution against spending an inordinate amount of time studying something that people need action on now.

In Nunavut, we cannot wait for more recommendations. Every year without action is another year of lost lives and pain. Qujannamiik. Taima.

(On motion of Senator Brazeau, debate adjourned.)

(At 7:08 p.m., pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on March 31, 2022, the Senate adjourned until Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 2 p.m.)