Bill C-300 (Historical)

Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act

An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention

This enactment establishes a requirement for the Government of Canada to develop a federal framework for suicide prevention in consultation with relevant non-governmental organizations, the relevant entity in each province and territory, as well as with relevant federal departments.

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I move that Bill C-300, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 12 and 13 on page 2 with the following:

b) establishes a distinct national coordinating body for suicide prevention to operate within the appropriate entities in the Government of Canada and to assume re-

Although the Mental Health Commission of Canada does an excellent job, I am moving this amendment since unfortunately people also commit suicide for reasons that are not necessarily related to mental health. We might say that the Commission cannot cover all the reasons why someone might want to commit suicide. That is why there has to be a separate agency responsible for the prevention of suicide.

From the witnesses' submissions sent to us in our offices, we can see that there is a consensus for an independent agency other than the Mental Health Commission of Canada, one which would not have ties with the Commission. That is why I am moving this amendment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

We will begin now.

Today, pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, February 15, 2012, we're doing Bill C-300, an act respecting a federal framework for suicide prevention.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of the preamble and clause 1 is postponed.

(On clause 2—Framework)

We'll go to the first amendment, which is NDP-1.

Go ahead, please.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I think there has been some discussion between Madame Quach and my assistant and we would like to change it to state something a little bit more specific:

That the committee set three meetings aside after the Bill C-300 study to explain the role of government and industry in determining drug supply in this country, how the provinces and territories determine what drugs are required in their jurisdictions, and how industry responds to them, and the impact this has on stakeholders.

[Prof. Brian Mishara, Director, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia, Université du Québec à Montréal, As an Individual]

I'm going to speak in French, if that is all right.

In 1987, the report of the National Task Force on Suicide in Canada provided in its conclusion a series of 40 specific recommendations to prevent suicide in Canada. I was part of the group of experts tasked with revising and updating that first report from the group of experts. Health Canada issued that new version in 1994. Seven years later, we could only reiterate the same 40 recommendations because nothing had been done. Since then, none of the 40 recommendations have been implemented.

Today, close to 30 countries have a national suicide prevention strategy, and the WHO recommends that all countries develop one.

I'm a researcher. Research shows that national strategies have an impact on suicide. For example, a study published in 2011 in Social Science and Medicine focused on the suicide rate in 21 countries between 1980 and 2004. In those 25 years, the suicide rate dropped each year by 1,384 out of 100,000 residents, or by 6.6% a year. According to the study, if Canada, with a population of 34 million, had a national strategy like that of other countries, the number of deaths by suicide would decrease by 476. If we consider the financial impact of health and mental health care and the psychological and emotional impact of deaths by suicide, the possibility of saving 476 lives a year may justify major investments in suicide prevention.

Bill C-300 is a good start and indicates that Canada wants to be among a growing number of countries that have invested in a national suicide prevention program. A number of Canadian provinces have already made great strides. In 1998, Quebec created the Stratégie québécoise d'action face au suicide. Between 1998 and 2008, there was a decrease in the suicide rate for all age groups. The rate for youths in Quebec dropped by half compared with 1998.

Certainly, the provinces have a responsibility when it comes to health and mental health. Suicide prevention is part of that. But significant steps at the federal level can contribute considerably to decreasing the suicide rate in Canada. Think about the medication that causes the most deaths by suicide: it's acetaminophen, Tylenol, which is available over the counter in large quantities. In England and in a number of other European countries, a simple regulation aimed at controlling the quantity of pills in a single container that a person can purchase resulted in a lower number of poisonings, whether intentional or unintentional, caused by this medication. The fact that fewer dangerous medications are available at home has reduced the risk for suicidal individuals. This kind of policy doesn't cost the government anything and offers an increased probability of saving lives.

Other examples of possible actions that can be taken at the federal level include media awareness, particularly on the impact their reports have on suicide. This impact has been very well documented through a significant body of research. Encouraging early intervention to promote mental health in young people is another example.

The spirit of Bill C-300 is commendable, but the repercussions of this kind of legislation will be determined by the resources available to implement it and how the authorities, which are called relevant entities within the Government of Canada, will invest competent resources to carry out the tasks set out in the legislation.

This bill is very different from the national suicide prevention strategies elsewhere in the world that have had a considerable impact on the suicide rate. The national strategies that have been successful have not given an existing entity the mandate of dealing with suicide prevention; instead, they have created a governmental or paragovernmental organization responsible for the strategy.

Those entities had sufficient funding to interact with the provincial, governmental and non-governmental authorities to develop a concerted action on suicide prevention. However, all the strategies that have been successful received good funding from governments for pilot projects, monitoring and various activities.

Without specific funding allocated to suicide prevention, Bill C-300 risks having the same impact as the report entitled Suicide in Canada and the updated report. It was a lot of fine words, but the federal government has taken almost no action in terms of suicide prevention.

Canada has an enormous amount of suicide prevention resources. We are exporters of knowledge in this area. Our research is often used elsewhere. We can learn from the success and experiences at the provincial and local level, but the federal government also has a role to play, as I have already mentioned. I'll repeat that the government just wasted $300,000 to draft existing documents, which have been written recently elsewhere in the world. Lack of coordination seems to be a common occurrence.

Instead of palming the mandate off on a relevant entity within the Government of Canada, I recommend that the bill be amended to create a governmental authority that would be responsible for implementing the legislation. I also recommend adding that this entity make recommendations on changes to Canada's legislation, policies and practices to encourage a decrease in suicide.

Furthermore, I find that the timeframe suggested, which provides for an initial report in four years, must be replaced and that an annual report should be requested. I know that it takes time to establish a strategy. However, other countries in the world have generally taken one or two years to create a national strategy that has involved thousands of stakeholders, given the small amount—

[Dammy Damstrom-Albach, President, Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention]

Good morning, and thank you very much for allowing me to address the committee.

As you are by now well aware, as many as 10 Canadians die each day by suicide, and these mostly preventable deaths devastate the lives of so many others. On that basis alone, our government should play a significant role in suicide prevention. However, this role and the government's response to suicide must be in keeping not only with the seriousness but also with the breadth and the complexities of this issue.

This requires an approach that is authentic, multi-faceted, and nuanced, an approach specific to suicide prevention, intervention, and “postvention”, which of necessity focuses particular attention and action beyond simple inclusion in a broader initiative. Positive outcomes demonstrating our government's true commitment to suicide prevention depend upon specific, comprehensive, and concrete action, and eventually upon appropriate funding as well. While we understand funding for suicide prevention is not part of today's discussion and cannot be tied to a private member's bill, we all appreciate that it must at some point enter in.

Bill C-300 is a first step. Because of this bill, as well as that tabled by Megan Leslie and the recent motion put forward by Bob Rae, Parliament at last has broken its silence on suicide to join in a national conversation. We are very grateful for that.

However, I believe we owe it to Canadians to figure out what it will take to do this right. We must use this bill as a compass to chart our best direction, not take half measures. We know parliamentarians of every stripe are deeply concerned, and many have been personally touched by suicide in some way, as we saw last October when so many spoke of the tragedy of suicide and the need for bold action.

We are told that for every suicide death, there are at least 10 close others whose lives are profoundly impacted. That is 100 Canadians every day. Think about what that means over a decade. Many of these survivors suffer in silence and may themselves become vulnerable to suicide, particularly without compassionate and knowledgeable care and support.

Yet suicides are for the most part preventable. There are solutions, though they are rarely quick or simple. Suicide prevention in Canada is fragmented. The work began with dedicated individuals and small organizations scattered all across the country, and this remains reflected in our current state. There is no national vision unifying our efforts and few mechanisms that allow us to learn from and build on our knowledge and experience. At times, knowledge is confined to special interest or otherwise privileged groups and not easily accessible or transferable to grassroots organizations, front-line workers, and survivors.

When it comes to suicide prevention in Canada, the right hand often does not know what the left hand is doing, even though there are investments being made and great things being done in pockets all across the country. Because of this, good investments can fail to have broad impact, and their usefulness is then diminished.

Indeed, our government has made some focused investments in suicide prevention, but there is no structure to facilitate benefits spreading to all the places where they could be useful. A case in point is the recent announcement by the federal Minister of Health regarding a $300,000 grant to research best practices. This decision was made with the very best of intentions. However, in the absence of a framework and coordinating body, the government was unaware that similar exercises had taken place in other countries and that in 2003 the Canadian Institutes of Health Research had commissioned Dr. Jennifer White to undertake a Canadian suicide research review. This report identified substantial Canadian contributions to the suicide knowledge base and identified important research gaps. Hopefully, the upcoming research will build on Dr. White's 2003 report. In fact, an update of this report, with the addition of the global picture from similar recent reviews, would likely have been more sensible, along with funds directed to addressing some of the gaps already identified.

The assumption that simply making gathered knowledge available means that it will be swiftly put into action ignores the transitional steps needed to turn evidence-based knowledge into useful, practical application. Furthermore, the rapid gathering of this information could have been done in a few weeks by a simple request to SIEC, the Suicide Information and Education Centre, and to Crise to provide the latest material compiled across the globe.

We may well be spending $300,000 to reinvent the wheel. The government cannot be faulted, because there is no structure or appointed body to inform such decisions, nor is there any such structure to ensure that stakeholders across Canada have equal access to gathered information and the capacity to translate it into policy, implement it in practice, and then evaluate the outcome and feed the results back to others who need to learn from them.

This is where the federal government comes in. It is not a small role that the government must assume. It must function as both catalyst and glue to stimulate and cement the needed connections. Suicide prevention requires all levels of government to unite in support of the community groups, survivors, those with lived experience, and the thousands of volunteers who have long done the lion's share of this work. The national government must step forward to do its portion.

The federal government can also address fragmentation by honouring the 1996 UN guidelines on suicide prevention. Surely Canada's approach must be consistent with these guidelines, which clearly state that the litmus test of a country's commitment to suicide prevention is the appointing of a national coordinating body to promote collaboration and collective action and regularly report on progress.

Let us take full advantage of the wonderful opportunity we've been given thanks to the non-partisan leadership of people like Harold Albrecht, Megan Leslie, and Bob Rae. Bill C-300 is a good beginning. However, we need to extend our reach to be sure we do all that we can do for those Canadians whose lives have been or may be touched by suicide. Bill C-300 recognizes that suicide is a public health priority; however, it places most of its emphasis on knowledge exchange.

While this is one essential element of a comprehensive approach, knowledge exchange cannot stand alone. At a minimum, we must also consider establishing a national implementation support team to advance a comprehensive federal, provincial, territorial, public, and private response to suicide prevention. We must develop policies aimed at reducing access to lethal means. We must create guidelines and action initiatives to improve public awareness, knowledge, education, and training about suicide. And we must support an enhanced information system to disseminate information about suicide and suicide prevention.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I would like to welcome all of you here today.

I also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate our colleague Mr. Albrecht for introducing Bill C-300. He has been a relentless advocate on this issue. In fact he started with motion 388 in the last Parliament.

I'm not sure, but I don't think he mentioned today that he was also a founding member and co-chair of an all-party parliamentary committee on palliative and compassionate care. It studied four different areas, one of them being suicide prevention. Last fall that group managed to introduce their report called “Not To Be Forgotten”. I encourage you to take a look at it, and specifically at the chapter on the work you're doing.

Today when Mr. Albrecht was here, he mentioned he was intentional about not identifying any one particular group in his bill. As we can see here today, we have many different groups represented. So perhaps there's an understanding that strategies can transcend age and context, while recognizing the unique challenges you face within the different areas you are representing.

I am a member of a family that has survived suicide. It was many years ago—24 years ago, in fact. I lost my youngest brother. It was his third attempt. As family, obviously there was something we did not access or that was not available to us to try to work through what might have been creating this need in him, and certainly he did end up taking his own life.

Ms. Israel, I want to focus on something you mentioned earlier in terms of framing the issue. You said, “Suicide, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal behaviours have devastating impacts on families and communities across the country.” Then you stated, “All of us—families, caregivers, levels of government, and community leaders—have a role to play in preventing suicide and in reaching out to individuals, families, friends....”

I know you are actively working on strategies to help avoid the risk factors for suicide in children, and that you have developed national guidelines for seniors. I'd like to give you an opportunity to speak to both of those.

Also, if there's anything you are working on in terms of providing assistance to families who are survivors of suicide, would you speak about that as well?

[Col Rakesh Jetly]

Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak on Bill C-300.

Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey and I represent the Canadian Forces, more specifically, Canadian Forces health services.

The CF has placed a particular emphasis on suicide prevention for many years. In the interest of time, we'll limit our discussion to current efforts.

As already discussed today, suicide is a public health problem and a major cause of death among young people in western societies. The Canadian Forces rate has remained consistently below the age-match rate within Canadian society; however, the CF position remains that even one life lost to suicide is one too many. We grieve the loss and, as an organization, ask out loud, “Could we have done more?”

In September 2009, the Canadian Forces hosted an international expert panel on suicide prevention in military populations. In addition to our own internal experts, we consulted experts from academia, and from allied military such as those of the U.K., U.S., Australia, and the Netherlands. We have brought copies of the expert panel report, in English and French, and could make PDF versions available if necessary.

The overarching recommendation of the panel was that effective suicide prevention must indeed focus upstream with the effective treatment of mental illness. The three cornerstones or pillars of an effective mental health suicide intervention program are excellence in mental health care; leadership; and an engaged and aware military population or any population that one is dealing with.

To expand on the above, we continue to strive toward a mental health treatment program that is second to none. This means timely access to multidisciplinary expert care, evidence-based treatments, no co-payments for medication, and no limits on interventions such as psychotherapy, provided they are clinically indicated.

We also continue to implement measures to enhance early identification and treatment in primary care settings of conditions that are known to contribute to suicide.

The unique role of leadership in the Canadian Forces context cannot be understated. For example, the leader-subordinate relationship in the CF is much more than employer-employee. As well, leadership is responsible for all aspects of a member's well-being, including provision of their health care.

Leaders ultimately create and fund health systems, but more importantly, they create a workplace climate conducive to judgment-free discussion about mental health issues, including suicide. Many of the barriers that may have discouraged care-seeking in the past can be overcome through effective leadership. This idea is best exemplified by the current CDS's “Be the Difference” campaign in which he has charged all CF leaders to be facilitators and partners in the mental health of soldiers. He essentially reminds us that mental health is everybody's business and responsibility.

The third cornerstone involves ensuring that the CF members themselves are provided with sufficient information to recognize when they or someone else may be struggling, and that they know when and where to seek help if required. We provide education and training throughout the career and deployment cycles, starting at the recruit level, for both Canadian Forces personnel and their families in order to give them the tangible knowledge and skills to help themselves, to seek care, and to help their peers.

Many other specific topics and recommendations are discussed in the reports including the fact that since April 2010 we have begun what we call a medical-professional-technical review of every suicide, for which we will send a senior mental health professional and a family physician to the site of the suicide, and on behalf of the Surgeon General, do a detailed review of the circumstances surrounding the event. Those include the mental health of the individual, any care that was provided, workplace circumstances, and other stressors.

This process provides us important lessons learned from every single suicide that occurs within our organization, and this new and valuable process will give us near-immediate feedback and identification of any trends that emerge.

There were 61 recommendations in the report. I'll highlight just two of them. We also have ongoing concerns regarding the responsible reporting of suicides in the media, and we take every opportunity to educate reporters and journalism students on the very real risks of contagion and imitation with regard to the reporting of suicides.

To conclude, the Canadian Forces is committed to contributing its expertise and knowledge towards the prevention of the loss of life to suicide, and to helping those impacted by it. Our efforts continue through partnerships and in collaboration with others to make a difference in the mental health of Canadians. We look forward to the outcomes of this parliamentary process.

Thank you.

[Marla Israel]

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair and honourable members, for the opportunity to discuss the important topic of suicide prevention.

In my remarks today, I will provide a brief overview of suicide prevention and the actions taken by the Public Health Agency of Canada to address suicide and mental health promotion. I will also highlight the work currently being done by Health Canada on suicide prevention in First Nations and Inuit communities, as well as the research efforts of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in mental health promotion and suicide prevention.

I am pleased to be here with Ms. Langlois, who will answer questions later.

Of course, my federal colleagues are here as well, and we'll be happy to speak to their issues.

Suicide, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal behaviours have devastating impacts on families and communities across the country. Probably the hardest issue to confront after a child, a friend, or a parent has taken his or her own life is the feeling of disbelief that a person could feel so terribly alone with their pain and suffering that the only way out is ending their life.

Through this bill and the efforts of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, media, stakeholders, parliamentarians, etc., the issue of suicide and the importance of positive mental health at earlier ages and stages is being confronted head-on. All of us—families, caregivers, levels of government, and community leaders—have a role to play in preventing suicide and in reaching out to individuals, families, friends, and communities who are struggling with this issue.

The statistics are telling. Canada has a suicide rate of about 11 people per 100,000. Approximately 3,700 individuals take their lives each year. In general, boys and men commit suicide at a rate 3 to 4 times greater than girls and women. In addition, suicide is not just a problem for the young. Older men, for instance, have particularly troubling rates of suicide.

Further, for certain populations within Canada, rates of suicide are disproportionately high. This includes Canada's aboriginal population. While some communities, thankfully, have little experience with suicide, others struggle on a daily basis. Suicide accounts for 22% of all deaths among First Nations youth 10 to 19 years of age, and 16% among First Nations adults aged 20 to 44 years. The suicide rate in regions of Canada with a high proportion of Inuit residents is approximately 11.5%, which is 6 times higher than for the rest of Canada.

From a public health perspective, suicide prevention begins with a solid foundation of positive mental health—resilience, solid relationships, sound parents, positive self-esteem, confidence in oneself, and good supports. Initiatives that begin early in life and encompass a person's whole environment will reap solid rewards later in life, when stress is high and when anxiety and depression take shape.

I would like to take a brief moment to highlight the efforts under way in the health portfolio to address suicide prevention. Activities at the Public Health Agency employ a population health perspective to promote healthy living and to understand the issues that can lead to poor mental health, including suicide.

Our work promotes public health prevention and promotion. We work with provinces and territories and with Statistics Canada to provide surveillance information and reports such as “A Report on Mental Illnesses in Canada”. We provide grants and contributions to researchers, academics, and community organizations to better understand interventions that may serve to prevent suicide at later stages. We deliver children's programs that are heavily focused on creating a better start and being better able to confront the transition to the school setting.

Approximately $114 million is spent on the Canadian prenatal nutrition program, the community action program for children, and the aboriginal head start program in urban and northern communities. As well, $27 million goes towards the innovation strategy, which contributes to the development of protective factors for improving the health of children, youth, and families.

In an effort to promote mental health and prevent suicide among seniors, the agency funded the development of the first evidence-based national guidelines on seniors' mental health, which are used to address a number of mental health issues, including depression and suicide prevention. Also, of course, we collaborate with provinces and territories.

The First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada works closely with its partners to support First Nations and Inuit communities, investing $245 million per year in community-based programs and services associated with the mental wellness of First Nations and Inuit. Culturally based, community-driven programming is a significant contributor to positive health outcomes among First Nations and Inuit communities, families and individuals.

In specific response to the challenge of youth suicide amongst Canada's aboriginal peoples, in 2005 the aboriginal youth suicide prevention strategy was launched with an investment of $65 million over five years.

The strategy was renewed in 2010 with an investment of $75 million over an additional five years. The strategy supports first nations and Inuit families in over 150 communities to prevent and respond to youth suicide. The national anti-drug strategy is contributing to protect youth and families against the harmful effects of illicit drug use, with $9.1 million annually to improve access to quality addiction services for first nations and Inuit.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is increasing our understanding of suicide, helping to build the knowledge base as well as the capacity to respond more effectively by providing resources, treatment, and supports. With over $315 million since 2006, of which $25 million has been specific to suicide prevention research, it has allowed a significant contribution to scientific knowledge.

The work of the health portfolio is not, however, the only work of the federal government in this domain. Next you will hear from colleagues at the Canadian Forces, Veterans Affairs, and Correctional Services, about the work they are doing to advance the promotion of positive mental health and to prevent suicide for the populations they serve.

Bill C-300 serves as a useful instrument to promote dialogue, education, and awareness among federal partners. The potential development of a federal framework on suicide prevention will also carve the way for greater federal integration of initiatives, programs, and services, and will assist in greater collaboration among partners.

To conclude, the health portfolio is committed to contributing its expertise and knowledge toward the prevention of the loss of life to suicide and to help those impacted by it. Our efforts continue through partnerships and in collaboration with others to make a difference in the mental health of Canadians.

We look forward to the outcomes of this parliamentary process.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

I would like to resume the committee meeting, so we have sufficient time to hear all our very important testimony from our witnesses.

I want to welcome the witnesses here today to speak on Bill C-300. We're very much looking forward to your very insightful wisdom.

From Health Canada, we have Ms. Kathy Langlois. Thank you. We have from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Ms. Marla Israel. Welcome. Via video, we have Ms. Janice Burke. Ms. Burke, can you hear me clearly?

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

I would just like to respond.

The very essence of Bill C-300 is to utilize the good work that's already occurring on the front lines, whether it's the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council, Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, or myriad groups across the country that are already doing good work. The real heart of what Bill C-300 is doing is trying to bring these groups together, provide resources for them, and have them share what they're already doing so that the best practices can be shared. I think you've hit at the very heart of what my bill tries to do.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for coming here this morning.

Harold, I would like to congratulate you and thank you for your initiative.

With regard to how serious the issue of suicide is, I don't think there's anybody in this room who doesn't know someone who has committed suicide. I don't have any statistics on it, but even in my experience—I don't have anybody in my immediate family, but I had cousins who committed suicide. I had a school friend who fell victim to mental illness, and before he reached the age of 30 he committed suicide. The signs were there. He was watched by the family, and eventually he found a way to end his life.

We have a lot of people around the table who have a lot of knowledge and experience in the medical field. My professional background is in engineering, but I have a lifetime of experience. Harold mentioned that 90% of suicide cases are related to mental health. Well in my view, probably 100% of the cases are related to mental state, or the state of mind at the moment a person decides to take that action and end his or her life. Whether some cases are preventable or detectable is a question we can ask. In some cases there are no signs, and therefore preventing people from committing suicide in such cases is very difficult.

My first question is to Harold.

In your comments, Harold, you acknowledge the journey to introduce Bill C-300. I notice in the first point of the preamble that you take note of the spiritual aspect of suicide prevention. You didn't touch on this in your comments. I'm curious. Can you tell us more about what you meant?

[Tana Nash, Coordinator, Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council]

Thank you. It's an honour to be here this morning.

I am here before you today as an advocate for suicide prevention and awareness, as the coordinator of the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council but also as someone who has been bereaved by suicide.

During my first year of university, I lost my grandmother to suicide, and more recently I lost my only sister and sibling, Erin, to suicide.

Like so many advocates and grassroots organizations across Canada, I channeled that grief into something helpful, something hopeful and positive, so that others might not need to endure that same loss, that same needless and unnecessary loss.

In Waterloo Region there are many partners and volunteers breaking down stigma, raising awareness, providing education, and offering prevention and intervention solutions to reduce suicidal behaviours. And we are not alone.

Across Canada these efforts are fuelled by passion and a commitment to change, but are often disjointed, insufficient, and underfunded. So today is an important hour in Canada's history. As a government we are moving toward establishing a federal framework for suicide prevention, and by moving on this bill so quickly you are embracing Canada's need for quick action.

I am going to keep my remarks brief and make six key points, on why, in my judgment, Bill C-300 is so important for Canadians.

First, stating information about suicide prevention from a national, provincial, and a regional level is paramount. One new vision is using the workplace as a tool to do this, an area that has not been tapped into as strongly as we need to.

Bill Wilkerson and the Honourable Michael Wilson, released their final report for The Global Business and Economic Roundtable for Addiction and Mental Health this past December. The title is “Brain Health + Brain Skills = Brain Capital”. In it they talk extensively about the new workplace—the new neuroeconomic workplace—as a venue for suicide prevention.

The report says that the “NEW or NeuroEconomic Workplace is the workplace of the future. This NEW Workplace – as a venue for research, prevention and education – must be designed, managed and sustained to promote and protect the mental health of working populations as a straightforward duty of asset management”.

The report goes on to talk about how 85% of all new jobs now demand cerebral—not manual—skills, and what the report refers to as the advent of a brain-based economy wherein brain-based disorders are the leading source of disability.

I was asked to write for this report. I, too, call on Canada's business community to take a leadership role by offering prevention and intervention training in the workplace. Imagine mandating mental health first aid and gatekeeper suicide-prevention training such as ASIST or safeTALK, just as we have done with first aid and CPR, and providing employees with modules on what stress looks like, what depression looks like, what resiliency tools look like, and what the warning signs for suicide are. If we educate the workplace, we are also educating parents, just as we did with first aid and CPR.

I will add that both the Honourable Michael Wilson and Bill Wilkerson have expressed their support for Bill C-300 on behalf of the business community and asked me to bring that here today.

We can take this same model for disseminating information for suicide prevention in the workplace and apply it to other areas that affect thousands of Canadians, such as our national coaching certification. Our national coaches require first aid and CPR, but wouldn't it be great it they also were required to have mental health first aid and suicide-prevention training skills? And what about our future teachers and our education system? Currently they do not receive mental health or suicide-prevention training, although they are struggling with this every day.

The second point is promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange across regions. I can tell you from a grassroots organization that this is essential. We are all operating on shoestring and non-existent budgets, but we imagine a hub where all of us working across Canada can access tools, brochures, and ideas, and where we can simply add our own local crisis information, instead of reinventing the wheel.

For example, our region just completed a brochure entitled, “How Do I Write an Obituary When My loved One Died by Suicide?” I'm currently making presentations to all funeral homes in our region about the important role that funeral directors can play in breaking down stigma, as one of the first points of contact with family members; and what kinds of crisis or counselling services are available at the funeral service, because we know there will be other folks in the room who are skating on thin ice. I've also taken this presentation to the AGM of the Ontario Funeral Service Association, but we need to roll this out to all funeral homes across Canada.

My third point is on promoting the use of research and evidence-based practices. Implementing practical practices that work is essential to reducing the numbers of suicides. One example from the Waterloo region is the Skills for Safer Living group. This is a 20-week psychosocial, psycho-educational support group, but it's specifically for folks who have had suicide attempts and are still wrestling with wanting to die. This group was developed at St. Michael's Hospital with much evidence behind it that proves its success. It teaches things like emotional and coping skills, and how to gauge your own behaviour on a sliding scale, so that you know when you're escalating and how to reach out for help.

We are fortunate that this now runs in the Waterloo region, but when I talked to the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton last week, they hadn't heard about this great program. They are hungry to have such practical training in their region as well. It's another proven practice that can be rolled out across Canada.

My fourth point is on research as an essential part of Bill C-300. As the Wilson and Wilkerson report states, finding a cure for depression will stimulate the prevention of suicide on a large scale. It is estimated that as high as 90% of all those who take their own lives suffer depression at the time. Serving this purpose means saving the lives of kids.

The fifth point is on increasing public awareness. The stigma that still surrounds suicide prevails when it comes to advertising campaigns and awareness-raising. But as the Bell Let's Talk Day has proven, people want to talk about this issue. I can tell you that inevitably, time and time again, when I reach out to the community and start a dialogue, people want to talk about suicide. They simply need a leader to lead. They simply need the door to become open, because once it's open people want to talk.

I remember the first time I was at a local talk radio show and the producer was skeptical about having me on the program. She said she hoped I had lots of information to share, because nobody was going to call in. Well, 10 minutes into the 30-minute program, the phone lines were lit up. She popped her head in the door and asked if I could stay for an hour, because they couldn't believe the response. People want to have this dialogue.

Across Canada there have been all sorts of great public awareness events, such as the public service announcements that ran in Saskatchewan as a result of MP David Batters' death, and bus banners in Vancouver. Across Canada there are posters, information, and literature, but let's pull these all together so that we can roll out these models of success from coast to coast, so that all Canadians can have access to them. We can also look to other countries for their successes, such as the television commercials that were aired in Scotland aimed at middle-aged males, which is still the number-one mortality demographic for suicide—and that is true here in Canada.

Finally, let's be bold. It is not good enough to simply say we will do the above points, such as education and sharing of information. We need to actually take a stand as a concerned body and say the goal of the campaign is to cut the annual death toll in half, or to reduce suicides by 20% within the specific timeframe, as Scotland's Choose Life program has done. Consider this: if we aimed at reducing suicides in Canada by two-thirds over the next 10 years, we would save more than 30,000 lives and prevent some 200,000 self-inflicted injuries.

Without sufficient funding none of these initiatives will materialize. However, with a well-funded coordinating body, a national game plan to save the lives of fellow Canadians is more than possible, it is doable. Better yet, let's not just follow the initiatives of other countries, let's lead the world. It might have taken us longer than other countries to get to this point of implementing a federal framework for suicide prevention, but now that we're here, let's surge forward and be a leader. Canada has the resources, and Bill C-300 provides the vessel for this to be possible.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the health committee.

Today we have a very important bill before our health committee. It's Bill C-300, An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention. It is my honour and privilege to introduce the sponsor of this bill, MP Harold Albrecht, who has worked extensively on this particular issue.

Mr. Albrecht will be presenting first, and then we have, from the Mental Health Commission, Dr. David Goldbloom and Ms. Mary Bartram. I understand, Dr. Goldbloom, you'll be doing the presentation. We have Ms. Tana Nash from the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council. Thank you so much for joining us, Ms. Nash.

We will begin with my friend and colleague Mr. Albrecht.

Suicide Prevention

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Madam Speaker, I rise to thank members of this House for their strong support of Bill C-300, an act respecting a federal framework for suicide prevention.

Bill C-300 enjoyed the unanimous support of my own Conservative Party, the NDP official opposition, the Liberal Party and the hon. members for Saanich—Gulf Islands and Edmonton East. I thank each and every one of them.

One week ago the House debated this bill. In that short week there have likely been 350 hospitalizations due to suicidal behaviours, 1,500 visits to emergency rooms, 7,000 attempts at suicide and, unfortunately, 70 of those likely ending in death.

Before the vote, Tana Nash of the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council expressed her hope that Parliament would continue this vital conversation.

On behalf of Tana and the many others working on the front line to save lives, I extend my heartfelt thanks to this House for supporting Bill C-300.

Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division at second reading of Bill C-300 under private members' business.