Thank you for your comments. They're greatly appreciated.
We've been advocating for a national standard for post-trial support for jurors, as it is a federal mandate that jury duty be administered by the province. Thus no one should have to look over the fence at the province next to them and wonder why they have juror supports in that province and why their own province has nothing to offer them. That's a terrible scenario to be in. I've spoken to jurors who have experienced that. Ontario, through the leadership of Yasir Naqvi, in fact, has instituted the Ontario juror support program. Saskatchewan, B.C. and Alberta have established juror support programs. There are many provinces that have nothing at all or have very cumbersome means of achieving support, such as having to go and acquire counselling on one's own. Anyone can understand that accessing mental health supports is very difficult. We know there are waiting lists and, especially if you're experiencing trauma from doing your civic duty, that's a difficult situation to be in.
A national standard would be appropriate, as would not restricting the number of sessions that are available to a juror. Some of those programs offer only four sessions of counselling, some an additional four. Anyone who has been through therapy would understand that sometimes in four sessions you're barely even unpacking the problem, let alone getting to a solution and coping mechanisms. Thus you're sent out the door not having any structure or any follow-up and still left with a nagging issue. PTSD is a very complicated disorder. It's not something that can be solved immediately in four sessions. It requires cognitive behavioural therapy. It requires a number of sessions.