Evidence of meeting #111 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was farmers.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Stewart Skinner  Chief Farming Officer, Imani Farms, As an Individual
Maria Labrecque Duchesneau  Founder, Au coeur des familles agricoles, As an Individual
Patrick Smith  National Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Mental Health Association
Paul Glenn  Past Chair, Canadian Young Farmers' Forum
Ginette Lafleur  PhD Candidate, Community Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices
Lucie Pelchat  Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices
Bev Shipley  Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Thank you, Mr. Glenn. Thank you, Mr. Shipley.

Mr. Breton, you have the floor for six minutes.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to the experts who are with us today.

Ms. Pelchat did not have much time for her presentation.

10:05 a.m.

PhD Candidate, Community Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Ginette Lafleur

We set it up that way; I did not take any of her time.

10:05 a.m.

Voices

Ah, ah!

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

Okay. Very well, I am not blaming you or stressing you out, especially not today.

The fact remains that Ms. Pelchat is an expert and, since she came to meet with us today, I would like her to give us more details about the solution she mentioned, the sentinels. I did not hear enough about it.

I feel that it is an interesting option, but we really did not have the opportunity to find out what it is all about. Could you tell us some more so that we can then ask you questions?

10:05 a.m.

PhD Candidate, Community Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Ginette Lafleur

I would like to point out that Ms. Pelchat was the one who adapted the sentinel training to agriculture. Quebec has sentinel training, but this is the agriculture component.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

That is great. We often talk about prevention here, and the importance of being proactive.

Ms. Pelchat, we are all ears. I will even give you the rest of my time.

10:05 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

Thank you, that is kind of you.

As regards our project, I would like to add to that we wrote the agricultural component for sentinels in collaboration with the Union des producteurs agricoles in 2016. There is a great demand. In just two years, more than 1,200 professionals and farmers have been trained to identify distress among farmers and to know how to act. It is great. However, we must not stop here. More than 10,000 professionals work with our farmers. So we must continue our training efforts.

I said that we train workers and professionals, but we also train producers so that they can identify distress among their neighbours and colleagues. These are mostly farmers involved in committees and associations. Our sentinels receive a full seven-hour day of training. They learn to identify the signs, to ask questions, to talk openly about suicide. They also learn some tricks to make it easier to ask for help. Farmers can come up with a thousand and one reasons to not meet with a responder, whether it is the distance they have to go to get services or the time they need for a meeting with a professional. Our sentinels are equipped to reduce this resistance and to act as a bridge between farmers and the resources providing help.

However, it must not be any resource, it must be from a professional who is able to tailor the response to a farmer. Sentinels do not become professional providers of help. At no time must sentinels remain alone in a situation where they have identified a person thinking of suicide. They must always deal with a responder that they have been assigned. Sentinels have access to help professionals around the clock, seven days a week. They can then discuss the situation and make sure that the farmer does not commit suicide.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

So these are people who are already in contact with the farmers, in a way.

10:05 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

Absolutely.

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

You mentioned bankers or other professionals who learn to identify this kind of problem among farmers. So they can then have a frank and open discussion with them.

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

What happens then? Do the sentinels direct those people to other professionals, doctors or psychologists or psychiatrists, for example? How do things move forward?

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

That is a good question.

The sentinels act a little like first-aid people. They see the problem and connect people with those who can help.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

With the health care system?

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

Yes. Actually, the people training the sentinels determine which responder is in the best position to support the sentinels they train in their area. Sometimes, the designated responder is the field worker for the region. Sometimes, they are in the suicide prevention centre. Sometimes, two organizations work together, because someone is needed around the clock, seven days a week. For example, the field worker can be the designated responder during the day on weekdays and responders from a suicide prevention centre take over during the evening, at night and on the weekend to support the sentinels when they identify a person in distress. In addition, we make sure that the designated responder is trained and adequately attuned to the needs of farmers asking for help.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

Have you trained a lot of them?

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

In agriculture, we have trained more than 1,200 professionals in the last two years.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

Ah, yes, that's what you said just now.

Are they all over Quebec?

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

I think we have them in all regions, except the Côte-Nord.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Pierre Breton Liberal Shefford, QC

How do the professionals find out that they can get this training?

10:10 a.m.

Training Advisor, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide, Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices

Lucie Pelchat

That is a good question.

Our collaboration with the UPA is absolutely essential in that respect. Those in the UPA who are responsible for psychological help regionally promote it in their areas. We also work in close collaboration with Au coeur des familles agricoles and with the suicide prevention centres to advertise it.

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Thank you, Ms. Pelchat.

Thank you, Mr. Breton.

Now we go to Mr. MacGregor for six minutes.

10:10 a.m.

NDP

Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC

Thank you very much, Chair.

Mr. Glenn, the part of Canada that Mr. Peschisolido and I come from has some of the most expensive farming land in the entire country: the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. We're lucky to have an agricultural land reserve, but the real estate pressures of neighbouring cities is leading to a skyrocketing cost of land.

We've heard about the legacy stress, but another set of farmers, whom I don't think we talked about enough, are those who are looking to be the first generation into the farming business. They're in their twenties. They have the drive, they see agriculture as a viable way of doing things, and they're really interested in producing something of value out of the land and putting the hard work in.

I'm wondering whether this kind of conversation comes up: just getting your foot into the game and buying your land, making those huge capital costs of buying the machinery, setting up a barn, and buying your first set of cows.

How is that conversation going on within your group with respect to the mental health study that we're doing?

10:10 a.m.

Past Chair, Canadian Young Farmers' Forum

Paul Glenn

One of the sessions we held was in Vancouver. That was definitely a hot topic.

With most farming operations there is a lot of off-farm income. Young farmers coming into agriculture typically are working off the farm as well. They're starting very unique agricultural businesses now, because they have to be very small, on small land bases, so it's a high-value crop that they're growing. They're even using social media to market directly to their market, basically, to be able to succeed.

It's a very tough thing, especially in B.C. with extremely high land values. It's a tough situation, because you want to farm but you can't farm in the Yukon. You can actually farm in the Yukon, but it's very difficult. That's an opportunity that maybe the Canadian government can provide stimulus for or land programs for young farmers.