First off, thank you, Ms. Hills, for your testimony. We give our profound condolences for your loss.
Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. My name is Robert Olson. I'm a research librarian at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta division, and the Centre for Suicide Prevention.
We lead community mental health in Alberta and suicide prevention in Canada. We do this by convening, educating, incubating, funding and driving systems change with myriad partners throughout our province and across Canada.
I'm joined today by my colleague SM Sansouci, from CMHA National. Thank you for inviting us to your committee to speak about veteran suicide.
Suicide among veterans continues to be alarming and persistent. This is why comprehensive, targeted and sustained mental health supports for veterans and their families are so crucial. The burden of suicide in this population is at crisis levels.
As committee members learned from previous testimony, our organization collaboratively developed a suite of resources with the Atlas Institute to address veteran suicide. These resources are supported by evidence-based research and informed by an advisory group of veterans with lived experience and their family members.
You also know of the efforts that have been made to prevent suicide among veterans and active Canadian Armed Forces members. The CAF/VAC joint suicide prevention strategy, with its seven lines of effort, first published in 2017, demonstrates the commitment to suicide prevention that the two bodies hold for their members. This is to be commended and amplified, as should the efforts around the federal framework and the national suicide prevention action plan, particularly the implementation of 988, the suicide crisis helpline.
Efficacious suicide prevention work, like bringing about any social change, relies on a balance of universal and targeted approaches. Anyone can have thoughts of suicide; however, some groups of people are disproportionately affected by it. We call these groups “priority populations”.
Universal or whole-population initiatives are needed to reduce stigma, raise awareness and address broader social determinants of health. However, universal approaches alone insufficiently serve priority populations, such as veterans. Priority populations benefit from targeted approaches designed around their unique precipitating factors, and these efforts are best implemented when underpinned by the work of a universal strategy. In short, we need a pan-Canadian suicide prevention strategy that considers all people in Canada and the populations most affected by suicide.
Canada is one of the few industrialized nations without a national strategy. Research shows multipronged national strategies that are appropriately resourced and implemented lower suicide rates and attempts. National strategies are comprehensive. They reduce stigma, drive awareness and address issues such as the broader determinants of health that contribute to suicide, such as housing and homelessness. These are exceedingly important for veterans, but they are currently not being considered in any coordinated way. A national strategy has clear deliverables and outcome targets that are regularly measured and evaluated.
Because health is a provincial and territorial responsibility, co-operation and collaboration at the federal-provincial-territorial table is crucial. A strategy must be co-developed at this table if we want to see robust uptake and implementation by the provinces and territories. Ultimately, it would be coordinated at the federal level, but dedicated yet flexible funding would flow to the provinces and territories to ensure they are able to address their own related priorities, based on readiness and local capacity.
Comprehensive cross-ministerial efforts are also key. A wide range of ministries whose remits are relevant to suicide and its prevention must be included in development, implementation and evaluation.
This committee has heard testimony that despite the actions of the CAF/VAC joint strategy, significant gaps and lack of resources for veterans remain. Initiatives that need to be shored up include peer support initiatives, such as CMHA's OSI-CAN program, which is a culturally relevant community-based support program for veterans.
Other elements include the need to strengthen access to timely, coordinated care and the need to train health care providers to be culturally competent and understand the unique realities of the veteran community. We also need to enhance supports in the period of transition from military to civilian life.
CMHA Alberta and the Centre for Suicide Prevention commend this committee for its interest and focus on veteran suicide prevention. We urge you to augment the targeted efforts for this critical priority population and join our call for a national strategy that serves all the people in Canada. Universal approaches lift targeted approaches: Suicide prevention involves us all.
Thank you.