Mr. Speaker, October 1 to 7 is Mental Illness Awareness Week. This week we are reminded that about 20% of Canadians will experience a mental illness at some point in their lifetimes.
Prior to the last election, the then Liberal minister of health announced that the Government of Canada would establish a Canadian mental health commission. Since the Conservatives were elected in January, the mental health agenda has lost all momentum in the government.
During the election the Conservatives claimed that if elected, they would “develop a new national disease strategy for mental illness in cooperation with the provinces”. The recommendations of the Senate report, “Out of the Shadow at Last”, focusing on mental illness in Canada, have received inadequate attention from the government.
I call upon the current health minister to act on the advice of the Senate's report and his parliamentary secretary to finally establish a commission on mental health in Canada.