I want to say thank you to the opposition for bringing this issue forward today in the Ontario Legislature, and obviously take a moment to thank and congratulate the member for Davenport for stepping up and becoming the leader of her party and becoming a mentor to so many women—particularly during this incredibly important week, as we recognize women’s heritage and leadership in this province. So congratulations to Marit Stiles.

Speaker, I have had very few opportunities, as you are well aware, as well as every member here is, to address the people of Nepean. So before I begin my formal remarks—which are not that formal, because I was just told I would be speaking to this—I do want to say thank you to the people of Nepean for electing me six times to this assembly; most recently, in the month of June. I didn’t have an opportunity during that campaign to say thank you to them for their support, their loyalty and their dedication—particularly as I am a member who has been very open and vocal about my mental health challenges.

So to the people of Nepean: For the next three years and a bit, I will continue to work extremely hard for you, to make you proud, and I want to say thank you for the opportunity to sit here in this assembly to be your voice at Queen’s Park.

I would also like to say thank you to our Speaker, who I’ve already started conversations with, along with Camille Quenneville from the Canadian Mental Health Association of Ontario, to see how we can best support members who may be in crisis.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with many of you from all different parts of the province—but, as importantly, from all different political parties—to hear about some of your own struggles and those of your own family. I know that there are members here who have lost people to suicide; in fact, I know two, and my heart breaks for them. I know that there are members here who are suffering through grief because they have lost a parent. I know some of you may be dealing with anxiety or depression, or, like me, you may actually have something like bipolar disorder, which is a special kind of hell.

I want to say thanks to my mother and my husband and my daughter, because my diagnosis has been difficult on them, particularly over the past eight years. But now that we know what we’re dealing with—and that’s important for a lot of people, to get the appropriate medication and the right type of therapy, which is why I think it’s important today to have this discussion, why I think it’s important that this is before the floor of the Legislature.

Before we start piling on one another—I’ve had the opportunity to see the best in every single one of you over the past eight or nine months. That has not always been the case—I’ve been here for 17 years. I have seen your genuine compassion, your empathy, your support for another. And I would encourage you, when we talk about this issue, not to make my health or anyone else’s health in this province a political football. We all know there’s a provincial budget coming up that’s going to be very important. Mental health has been a clarion call for all of us, regardless of what side of the Legislature we are on; it’s one where we all agree that more resources need to be deployed.

Two weeks ago, my husband lost his best friend to suicide. Just last week, I had another friend who went into a manic episode and was hospitalized. This is very real to me, and just like all of you, I have lived experience. These are not talking points I have; they’re scribbles on my page. This is something I deal with every single week. I couldn’t go to my leader’s dinner last Thursday, because every Friday I have to give blood and make sure my lithium levels are in check when I talk to my psychiatrist at the Ottawa Hospital.

In May, on May 24, which would have been my father’s, I believe, 72nd birthday, I ended up in the Queensway Carleton Hospital in a bed. I didn’t want to live anymore. I didn’t want to win the election. I didn’t want to breathe. And it was through the care of the doctors and nurses at the Queensway Carleton Hospital that I felt safe. They saved my life, and I’m very happy that I was able to be on hand before Christmas to see them expand their mental health facility. And I’ll give credit where it’s due: While that job was finished under this government, it was started by the previous Liberal government.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with other groups, community-based, that are trying to raise awareness, trying to actually allow people that—I don’t know if it’s a word—“navigability,” to navigate the social resources that are in our own communities. I’ll be speaking on Thursday to a group of women about these challenges.

There are so many groups that are cropping up across Ontario that also deserve our support. They are community-based, they’re organic, they’re grassroots, and they’re led by people with lived experience. And sometimes I find that to be the place where I heal most—learning from other people that I’m not alone, that the things I experienced for the eight months that I couldn’t really get out of bed are the same things other people do.

You don’t have to be a cabinet minister, you don’t have to be a teacher, you don’t have to be a young person to experience this; you just have to be human. Oftentimes, we’ll hear that one out of five people have mental health issues—I often say, because I’m bipolar, that’s six out of five. I guess I’m one of the only ones who can make that joke around here. But I have to say, I know that people experience it.

This past summer, when I was laying in my chaise lounge—can somebody bring me a tissue, because I’m going to need one—I took a picture of my friend. I was going through such a period of self—I can’t believe I’m being this open. My family is probably at home calling me right now, saying, “Shut up. You’re over-sharing.” I was laying at home. It was in the summer, and I was having a rough time getting up and being ready to do things. My friend came over, who has since passed away. He was laying there and was asking me about my care. I had no idea he had been in a hospital just before I was, in May. He was a truly brilliant political mind. He was so happy to hear that I was doing better. I was philosophizing—because that’s what we do as politicians, eh? He was sitting there, and my cat jumped on him, and he had the most beautiful glow on his face. He died a couple of weeks ago because he didn’t think he was worth it.

I’ve had this conversation with my friend opposite. When there’s a suicide, sometimes people call for help, but other times they’re suffocating. It’s like a fishbowl on your head, but your head just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and you can’t breathe. That’s really tough, and I know there are people across the province who are dealing with that now.

I don’t want to be political on this, because it’s too important. I think it’s important that we have the conversation, but I don’t think that today, regardless of how the vote goes, we should be yelling at each other. This is an issue where we can come together. This is an issue where we can show great leadership.

I happen to be a very lucky person that I had a boss—like people in Nepean and the Premier of Ontario—who gave me time to heal. I’m happy to report I’m doing quite well. I maybe shouldn’t have come back when I did in October, but I’m really well now.

Interjections.