Madam Speaker, I want to give a shout-out to my colleague from Wellington—Halton Hills. I congratulate him on his fantastic speech. I have had the honour of serving with him for over five years now.
This is a unique situation. We are in a hybrid situation. I am speaking from my hometown of Williams Lake, where I am very proud to be from, in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George.
I could comment a lot on the Speech from the Throne, but as October 4 to 10 is Mental Illness Awareness Week, it has provided us a unique opportunity to view this global pandemic through the mental health lens. Now more than ever we need to turn our focus and see mental health in parity with physical health. Looking at COVID, the Speech from the Throne fell short in many ways, and I will focus my speech on that.
I want to take members back to January 27 when I first raised the issue of COVID-19 with the government, and I was summarily dismissed by the Minister of Health. I was told that it was not an issue. I and my Conservative colleagues and other colleagues from the opposition were fearmongering. I was wrong to suggest that we needed to do more as a country. I was wrong to suggest that we needed to really focus. We were taking a non-partisan approach and we were challenging the government to look at and prepare us for what was eventually to come. The warning signs were there. The opposition saw it. I am not quite sure why the government did not see it coming.
We know that prolonged isolation and physical distancing have a detrimental effect on mental health. From personal experience, the effects of this pandemic have been extremely detrimental. Our colleagues on all sides, and who are speaking all across our country, are hearing heart-breaking stories. They are talking with their constituents who are losing their businesses. Not only do they have their financial stressors, they also have their health stressors that are adding to increased anxiety. We need to be better.
A very serious issue with COVID has been raised, and it is our seniors. My father-in-law has been diagnosed with cancer. Early in May, we moved him to our home for palliative care. The end is near for my father-in-law. COVID has been both a blessing and a curse. We have the chance to spend an increased amount of time with him, time that most Canadians do not have. However, the stress on everyday Canadians and what we have seen in seniors care facilities across our country is shocking.
It is not the case for a majority of Canadians. We know that many Canadians are not as fortunate as we are, for example. for me to bring my father-in-law into our home. We have seen cases on social media as well as in the news where loved ones have had to watch at a distance. They have not had the opportunity to spend those final moments with their loved ones who are in senior care facilities.
Unfortunately, we know that seniors 50-plus are at a higher risk of COVID as well as mental illness and mental injury. Those who are 60 and 70 years of age are even at a higher risk. We are failing this important community in our nation. Underlying medical conditions put seniors at a higher risk. As high as eight out of 10 deaths related to COVID are seniors over 65.
Another important segment are those people who are living with deadly illnesses such as ALS. I had the honour to meet with one of my constituents, Deane Gorsline. Deane was a young man serving in our Canadian Armed Forces. At the age of 29, he was struck with ALS. Just a couple of weeks ago, I met with him and his group, the ALS Action Canada organization.
The group shared with us that those who were living with these deadly diseases were suffering devastating impacts because of COVID. Some members in the chamber will remember our colleague, Mauril Bélanger, and the speed at which the disease racked his body. It quickly took away his ability to communicate and it quickly took him from us.
We have all suffered through this pandemic, but those suffering life-threatening diseases are at a greater risk of physical and mental illness. Without access to hospital services, chronic health problems can worsen. Changes in sleeping and eating patterns can be detrimental to their mental health. Isolation, loneliness and increased anxiety are all factors in someone's mental well-being. We know that increased isolation and physical distancing leads to increased anxiety and high stress. It also leads to substance abuse, increased domestic violence and suicidal crises. We need to be better.
When I looked at the Speech from the Throne, I was hopeful. The Prime Minister prorogued Parliament for six weeks. I was hopeful that it really was a reset. Instead we saw much of the same that had experienced over the first year of last session and the four years previous.
There was not much in the Speech from the Throne on mental health. Essentially, it was two lines. The first was that the government would further increase access to mental health resources for all Canadians. If they have the care they need when they need it, we will all be stronger for it. We need to ensure that whether it is somebody struggling with mental illness or injury in Newfoundland or British Columbia, we need to have consistent care.
It is shocking for me to hear comments from ministers of the Crown, such as the Minister of Employment, who make light of PTSD. That further minimizes and stigmatizes those who are struggling and suffering silently in the shadows.
The second mention in the Speech from the Throne about mental health was, “Expediting work to co-develop distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation, and a distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategy.” We all need to ensure we build awareness, but we also need action. I was looking for that. The stakeholder groups that I have met with in the last few weeks since the Speech from the Throne all say the same thing. It is not enough to create hope; we have to create action. That was missing in the Speech from the Throne.
This is really shameful. Now more than ever we need a plan for recovery. We did not see that. We saw more platitudes in the over 7,000 words in the Speech from the Throne. I think Canadians across the country were looking for an economic plan and a recovery plan, and that has to include mental health. Right now more than ever we need that. We need a plan that will not leave seniors behind. We need a plan that will not further alienate those living with deadly illnesses.
The Liberals are talking a good game, but are not doing enough. The Speech from the Throne is a failure. Seniors, like my father-in-law, will drop through the cracks if we do not change course very soon. What happens to seniors who do not have families like our? What happens if families do not have the opportunity to move their loved ones into their homes for end-of-life care? What happens to a family who cannot afford to take on that extra responsibility?
Those suffering with ALS and diseases like it need special care and consideration when developing plans for second and third waves of COVID. We are well into the second wave at this point, or just entering it, but we need to be thinking about that third wave. We need to do better and we must.
We also know that two to three years after a major crisis, such as the wildfires in Fort McMurray or in B.C., there is an increase in suicides, domestic violence and socio-economic issues such as alcohol and substance abuse. We need to have a plan to combat that. We can do better and we must do better.