Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and all members of the committee.
My name is Fred Phelps and I'm the executive director of the Canadian Association of Social Workers. I'm here today with Dr. Karen Cohen, CEO of the Canadian Psychological Association. We are proudly representing the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health today.
Established in 1998, CAMIMH, as we call it, is a unique coalition of 17 organizations that represents both those who provide health and social services, and those that represent people with lived experience with mental illness, their families, and their caregivers.
CAMIMH has a long history of using its collective power for mental health advocacy, calling for the creation and then a decade later the extension of the mandate of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. CAMIMH also advocated very strongly, ahead of last year's federal-provincial discussions, for a new pan-Canadian health accord, with dedicated funding to support increased access to mental health services, so that many Canadians who need them are able to receive them.
The 2016-17 health accord and its bilateral agreements, including $5 billion in dedicated mental health funding over the next 10 years, represent a historic achievement and a strong start in seeing what CAMIMH has advocated for, which is the Government of Canada contributing 25% of provincial expenditures for mental health. CAMIMH also supports the common statement of principles on shared health priorities that will guide bilateral agreements and investments in mental health over the next 10 years.
We have all come to understand that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. There are data gaps in our understanding of what is being delivered in mental health services, its effectiveness, and who is being served, both in the public and private settings. That is why CAMIMH supports a standardized set of pan-Canadian indicators that would serve to improve the accountability and transparency of mental health care and delivery, identify areas of high performance, accelerate the adoption of leading practices, and highlight where improvements are required.
In support of nationwide indicators, CAMIMH advocates that the federal government establish a five-year, $100-million mental health innovation fund. It is our view that this targeted and time-limited fund would jump-start the spread of innovation and build a foundation for systemic and sustainable change to meet the mental health needs of all Canadians.