Now What?

The elections are finally over. Now, the work begins. Whether you voted for the Liberal party or not, we can all agree that the best way forward…is to work together and find the best solutions.

Sadly, last week shone a light on the growing need to address mental health care in our country following the horrifying incident in Vancouver.

A little insight into what the Mental Health Act (similar in most provinces) is:

sets out the criteria for voluntary, informal and involuntary admissions to specially designated psychiatric facilities, as well as for the management of psychiatric outpatients under CTOs.
(A Practical Guide to Mental Health and Law in Ontario – OHA)

A CTO is a Community Treatment Order. In fact, the man arrested, was under a CTO and also had other prior interactions with police and hospitals stays. This process in BC is now under review.

In a recent Globe and Mail article, Jonny Morris, chief executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. division, said “It behooves us at this moment to really look for comprehensive mental-health reform and community-safety reform in this province.” (Globe and Mail, April 28)

And Wab Kinew, Premier of Manitoba, in a recent interview, said that he’s worried about the strain on police departments regarding mental health calls and whether there are enough accessible resources to support them in his province.

While Mental Health is primarily a provincial jurisdiction, it’s important for our Federal government to help as well. Just a reminder about what the Liberal Party, now elected into Parliament, campaigned on:

Liberal Party Platform for Mental Health

Provide 100,000 young people a year with mental health care by establishing a permanent Youth Mental Health Fund. This fund will enhance community-based mental health services and give access to mental health care to people who otherwise would not, improving the lives of young people, and the friends and families that love them.

Provide urgent and immediate support to address the overdose crisis by adding $500 million to the Emergency Treatment Fund to support municipalities, Indigenous Peoples, and community health care organizations to confront the toxic drug and overdose crisis and connect more people to treatment and vital services, faster.

Invest in deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, and shelters in recognition of the link between housing and mental health outcomes. We will do this through $6 billion invested in the new Build Canada Homes (BCH) which will build and acquire housing. This investment builds on the Rapid Housing Initiative which supported 15,000 homes for our most vulnerable, including projects like Dunn House in Toronto, Canada’s first-ever social medicine supportive housing initiative. We will continue to work with partners to deliver projects that recognize the link between housing and health outcomes.

Continue to fund the 9-8-8 suicide crisis helpline which responded to over 300,000 calls and texts in its first year. People need help but it can be hard to ask, especially when you are struggling. Every call this line takes, every message they respond to, is there to support people in crisis and offer help without judgement.

What can we encourage our elected officials to keep doing?

1. Keep funding specific initiatives, such as youth mental health and indigenous communities.
2. Investing in research that advances evidence-based practices in mental health, and supports research that is doing work with best practices to meet all needs in all populations.
3. Encourage collaboration between provinces and with the federal government to share best practices, research, data and initiatives

I always think that just because you voted for a party, doesn’t mean that you can’t hold them accountable. Clearly our world has changed and we need to step up our efforts to provide better mental health supports to a diverse group of people.

Support organizations that advocate and do work in mental health spaces
Education Yourself: read, ask questions, talk to people impacted by mental health across all communities, and continue learning.

What is one thing you would encourage your representatives to do for better mental health supports?