Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in support of the motion put forward by my colleague, the member for Timmins - James Bay.
Motion No. 174 calls for the government to establish a national suicide prevention action plan, with concrete steps and timelines. Government can and should take a leadership role in working to reduce the number of Canadians lost to suicide each year.
Suicide has impacted my family personally. My niece, Mikki Everett, died on November 21, 1994. She was 15 years old. Our family still is not clear whether her death was accidental or deliberate, but the impact her death had on all of us continues today. Her mother Heidi was never able to return to work. One never stops wondering why or what could have been done to prevent it.
Mikki was a joy to be around. We took her on family vacations and our kids adored her. We shared the same birthday, and my daughter Kellie honoured Mikki by giving my granddaughter, Lalita, middle names of Micheline Dawn in Mikki' s memory. We still miss her today. Her death was almost 25 years ago. Has anything really improved around suicide prevention since then?
One area we are starting to see some improvement in is in reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. This is a positive step in ensuring that people feel more comfortable seeking the help they need.
I would like to read an excerpt from a column written by Anglican Reverend Yme Woensdregt from Cranbrook. He shared how he came out on the other side of depression and offered advice for those who find themselves struggling, using words of wisdom from a source members may recognize, Piglet from Winnie-the-Pooh:
“Piglet?” said Pooh.
"Yes Pooh?" said Piglet.
“Do you ever have days when everything feels ... Not Very Okay At All? And sometimes you don't even know why you feel Not Very Okay At All, you just know that you do?”
Piglet nodded his head sagely. “Oh yes,” said Piglet. “I definitely have those days.”
“Really?” said Pooh in surprise. “I would never have thought that. You always seem so happy and like you have got everything in life all sorted out.”
“Ah,” said Piglet. “Well here's the thing. There are two things that you need to know, Pooh. The first thing is that even those pigs, and bears, and people, who seem to have got everything in life all sorted out...they probably haven't. Actually, everyone has days when they feel Not Very Okay At All. Some people are just better at hiding it than others.”
“And the second thing you need to know...is that it's okay to feel Not Very Okay At all. It can be quite normal, in fact. And all you need to do, on those days when you feel Not Very Okay At All, is come and find me, and tell me. Don't ever feel like you have to hide the fact you're feeling Not Very Okay At All. Always come and tell me. Because I will always be there.”
A piece of advice shared both by Piglet and Reverend Yme is knowing that one can reach out for help during times of crisis. We need to ensure people can both ask for and receive the help they need when struggling with thoughts of depression.
Clinical depression is more than just a bad day. Depression can be persistent and can interfere with every aspect of life: relationships with family and friends, participation in hobbies, performance at school and work and physical health. Left untreated, depression can worsen, leading to substance abuse, obesity, self-harm or suicide.
Despite recent efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness, there remains much work to be done. Many people still suffer in silence and three-quarters of those who die by suicide have no contact with mental health services in the year before their deaths.
This statistic shows that we need to do a better job of identifying individuals and groups at elevated risk and conducting proactive education and outreach activities to help prevent tragic losses of friends, family members, co-workers, neighbours, classmates and children.
Motion No. 174 proposes measures that will improve our understanding of suicide and, in turn, our prevention efforts. These are steps we need to take because too many lives are being lost every day.
According to British Columbia's minister of mental health and addictions, more than 500 people are lost to suicide every year in the province. Nationally, the most recent statistics available indicate approximately 4,000 Canadians die by suicide each year. That is about 11 people every day lost, and the circle of grief expands well beyond that.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24. With each person lost, lives are broken and we lose so much potential in our communities.
Suicide is especially prevalent among men in rural areas. We need to understand the factors at play in at-risk populations to respond appropriately. Adopting Motion No. 174 would begin the work of filling in knowledge gaps and establishing best practices.
We also need to ensure that those who take the brave step of seeking help are taken seriously and have access to mental health services they need in a timely manner.
One of my staff members in Ottawa lost her cousin, Christopher, to suicide last fall on World Mental Health Day. In the month before he died, he attended the local emergency room three times with suicidal thoughts. Each time he was sent home and not connected with mental health services in the community. He was 26 years old and wanted to be a writer. He was an only child, and his loss has left a terrible hole in the lives of his parents.
Christopher's story is sadly not an unfamiliar one as mental health crises are too often dealt with in emergency rooms not equipped to provide the treatment people need. Canadians across the country continue to face lengthy wait lists while they are in crisis, unless they have the means to pay out of pocket for help. Barriers and delays in accessing mental health services put the lives of people at risk not only due to suicide, but to overdose as well.
Canada is facing an opioid crisis and many people who struggle with mental health issues fall into addictions after trying to self-medicate. The tainted supply of street drugs puts those with concurrent mental illness and addiction at a high risk of death while they wait for access to treatment.
One of my staff has a close family member who suffers from mental health and addiction issues. He has been admitted to the hospital several times following suicide attempts. The family has been trying to access publicly funded treatment services, but have faced endless barriers and delays while his situation continues to deteriorate. My staff member says that it has come to the point that every time her mother calls at an unexpected time, she is afraid it will be to convey the news this family member has died by suicide or overdose.
The NDP has called for increased federal funding so those who are struggling with addiction can access treatment on demand. One important part of Motion No. 174 is the requirement to conduct a comprehensive analysis within 18 months on barriers Canadians face in accessing appropriate health, wellness and recovery services, including substance abuse, addiction and bereavement services. It also requires an analysis within the same time frame of the funding arrangements required to provide the treatment, education, professional training and other supports required to prevent suicide and assist those bereaved by a loved one's suicide.
While we work to reduce the number of Canadians lost to suicide, we also need to ensure those left behind have the supports they need to cope with the aftermath. Survivors of suicide loss face trauma and grief, often mixed with complex feelings of guilt, confusion and sometimes anger. The impact of suicide reaches beyond the immediate family and can affect an entire community. One death by suicide is sometimes followed by another and clusters have been seen among adolescents and in some indigenous communities.
I attended the funeral of a Cranbrook resident who died by suicide. During the eulogy, we were asked to remember this person by the individual's entire life, not just the few seconds before it ended. That was an important message, but without appropriate supports it can be challenging for loved ones to process their feelings and navigate the aftermath in a healthy manner. That is another reason why I support Motion No. 174. It calls for an analysis of bereavement services for those impacted by suicide.
One other group we must keep in mind in this discussion is the first responders who are exposed to the tragedy of suicide and must navigate interactions with families during an extremely difficult time. First responders are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress injury, which may elevate their own risk of dying by suicide. We must ensure first responders have training on best practices for responding to mental health crises and suicide and that they have the support needed to deal with the trauma they face on the job. We need to properly support all of our men and women who serve us in uniform who are at an increased risk for suicide.
As parliamentarians, we must do everything we can to prevent lives from being ended too soon due to suicide and the devastation it causes for those left behind.
I commend my colleague for bringing forward Motion No. 174 and I urge all members to support this important motion.