Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to participate in this debate on the motion proposed by our leader, the hon. member for Toronto Centre.
I would like to read the motion again:
That the House agree that suicide is more than a personal tragedy, but is also a serious public health issue and public policy priority; and, further, that the House urge the government to work cooperatively with the provinces, territories, representative organizations from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people, and other stakeholders to establish and fund a National Suicide Prevention Strategy, which among other measures would promote a comprehensive and evidence-driven approach to deal with this terrible loss of life.
We will spend the day speaking about suicide prevention, but the challenge will be to continue to speak up tomorrow, the next day and beyond. Why? It is because suicide is a terrible thing. It ends a life. It is permanent. It is sad. It is final and it impacts families and our communities. It is also a challenge for each of us here to reflect upon what we can do as legislators, as parliamentarians, to develop programs and strategies to prevent these tragedies. We all must do our part to tear away the taboo associated with talking about mental health issues, depression and suicide.
Studies show that suicide is often connected to mental illness and mood disorders. Among youth, it is often stress, anxiety and bullying. Alcohol and substance abuse are also often associated with suicide as well as the loss of a parent or caregiver in early childhood, the loss or breakup of a relationship, and poverty. It is a terrible stain on our country, a country as wealthy as Canada, to find itself in a situation where far too often people take their lives as a result of financial pressures. Suicide is sometimes related to physical, sexual and mental abuse, isolation and loneliness.
Many of us know the feeling of the loss of a loved one, whether as a result of an accident, a terrible disease like cancer, or the loss of a parent or grandparent through old age. We have all experienced these losses. However, there is something deeply and profoundly sad to hear of someone who believes they have no future, suffers depression, or perhaps just wanting to end the pain and decides to end his or her own life.
I am reminded of an incident that happened just two weeks ago, and members will know this as well. It is a story of a beautiful young man with a great future ahead of him. He was a young man who had many talents and abilities. His parents said he was the most loving person in the world. He killed himself at the age of 14. He had his whole life ahead of him. We later discovered the reason for this terrible tragedy was rampant bullying because of his sexuality.
This really does cause the mind and heart to pause and think that in this day and age some young people feel that the only option available to them for escape from their tormentors and pain is to take their own life. This is but one example.
The suicide rate for Canadian youth is the third highest in the industrial world. Suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged 25 to 29 and 40 to 44, as well as women in their early 30s. Suicide rates among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex and two-spirited youth is seven times the rate of heterosexual youth. It is critically important that all of us here in this House condemn any and all forms of homophobia in Canada. It is simply unacceptable.
I want to take a few moments to return to the author of this motion, the hon. member for Toronto Centre and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
For the many who suffer silently, they often experience feelings of shame and the idea that their feelings are somehow not normal. There is a perception that being a leader means always being tough, that one must exhibit strength and show no signs of weakness or vulnerability. We often hear that a leader is someone who must have pronounced skills and abilities, someone who exhibits great communication and speaking abilities, and the list goes on.
While all of us would agree that the member for Toronto Centre possesses all of these qualities, his real strength rests in his openness about the depression in his own life and his willingness to say so publicly. By going public about depression, the fact of being vulnerable, for putting a human face to what millions of Canadians have felt and feel today, he and others put a human face to what they may be feeling and perhaps provide a sense that they are not alone, that the spiral of pain and sadness can be overcome. Again, we must confront the taboo of mental illness, and today is a good start.
This is not a controversial motion and I expect members on all sides will support it. It is not a partisan issue; it is a human issue. It is an issue that touches many of us.
I want to focus a bit of my time on veterans and the significant mental health crisis that exists among them. In January 2011 the Department of National Defence and the Department of Veterans Affairs jointly released a study called “Survey on Transition to Civilian Life: Report on Regular Force Veterans”.
Here are a few facts. The suicide rate for those in the armed forces is nearly three times higher than the general population. Of all the males who enrolled in the regular forces after 1972 and were released before 2007, a total of 2,620 have died. Of all those who died, more than 500 died of suicide. That is more than one-quarter of them. Those are alarming statistics.
Here in Canada, suicide is preventable. We can do more to help and provide necessary resources in this fight. We can work with provinces and communities to provide programs and services. Far too often our health services are fragmented, disconnected, incoherent and lacking a national vision. We can do better and we should. At the very least, we should do more for the people the federal government has direct responsibility for: our veterans and our first nations communities.
Today, for me as a new member of Parliament, is an important one. It is issues like this one and the opportunity to speak openly about mental health and suicide that make me proud to be a member of this House.