Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part tonight in Parliament's debate from Wagobagitk, the traditional unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia.
I believe we can all agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we live, work and interact with others. It has been a severely challenging time for Canadians from coast to coast, including right here in Cumberland—Colchester and indeed across Nova Scotia.
Over the past months we have noticed that there has been an increased interest in and also a need for mental health supports. The pandemic has taken an especially heavy toll on vulnerable Canadians. We have seen that COVID-19 most negatively impacts our most vulnerable: our seniors, people experiencing homelessness, Canadians with disabilities, racialized Canadians, women, persons with substance use challenges and persons with mental health challenges, along with those who work to support them.
I am pleased that our government is responding to these needs with a $19-billion investment provided to the provinces and territories under the safe restart agreement. This investment will help provinces and territories respond to COVID-19 in unique ways in critical areas, including funding to support the capacity of health care services and procurement of personal protective equipment. In fact, we are making hospital gowns and masks right here at Stanfield's in Truro and that has provided 275 jobs to Nova Scotians as well as providing PPE to Canadians.
This agreement supports infection protection and control measures to protect vulnerable populations, including residents in long-term care facilities and those requiring home care and palliative care. It also provides funding for other vulnerable populations such as homeless Canadians and those living in remote and isolated communities.
This agreement is an indication of our deep and ongoing commitment to protect the health and safety of all Canadians. It will help struggling Canadians in a number of ways, including the newly proposed Canada recovery benefit for Canadians who are self-employed or not otherwise eligible for employment insurance. The Canada recovery benefit would provide aid for up to 26 weeks between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021. It also provides a benefit for 10 days of sick leave to any worker in Canada who falls ill or has to self-isolate due to COVID-19. A third benefit will support Canadians who must stay home to care for a child under the age of 12, or another dependant, because their school, day care or other day program facility has been shut down due to COVID-19.
This pandemic has had disproportionate effects on women, who are more likely to be asked to take on home responsibilities and who have reported increased rates of family violence during these times of increased isolation. We also know the pandemic has further isolated indigenous youth and those in the 2SLGBTQQIA community.
Access to support or prevention programs by those fleeing family and gender-based violence has become more difficult in the context of community lockdowns and social distancing practices, which is why our government has included new initiatives to help reduce the impact of abuse and violence within vulnerable families. A $50-million investment is being provided through the reaching home program to women's shelters and sexual assault centres, including $26 million to Women's Shelters Canada to distribute to women's shelters across the country, $4 million to the Canadian Women's Foundation to distribute to sexual assault centres and $10 million to support Indigenous Services Canada's existing network of 46 emergency shelters on reserve and in Yukon.
Access to mental health services for indigenous communities is so important, yet it has been disrupted or shifted to virtual and telehealth approaches while many remote communities have limited Internet connectivity. Our government is therefore investing $82.5 million in mental health and wellness supports to help first nations, Inuit and Métis communities adapt and expand mental wellness services, improve access to distinctions-based services and address growing demand in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our government also recognizes the significant and unique challenges faced by Black Canadians and other racialized populations during this pandemic. As a key social determinant of health that can affect an individual's access and willingness to seek medical care, racism is a public health issue, and systemic racism must be stopped.
Given this, the Public Health Agency of Canada and partners are undertaking a number of activities to improve Canada’s knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on racialized communities. We are establishing a new national COVID-19 data set, approved by Canada’s special advisory committee on COVID-19.
We recognize that COVID-19 has taken a toll on the mental health of Canadians right across the country: feelings of isolation, lack of access to usual support networks and living in fear of the uncertainties caused by the pandemic.
We also recognize the traumatic effect of the largest mass shooting in Canada's history, which tragically took place just five months ago in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy and offer them my sincere condolences on the loss of their loved ones.
After the dual crisis of COVID-19 and the mass shooting, I was adamant that our government offer increased mental health support to all those in need. In response, I was pleased that we introduced the wellness together Canada portal, which provided 24/7 mental health support to all those in need. More than 283,000 Canadians have now accessed this portal. We also made a $7.5 million investment to the Kids Help Phone for children and youth, which saw a huge increase in use.
The mental health impacts of this systemic discrimination and COVID-19 also have negative impacts on physical health. In response, our government is working to advance the knowledge of intersections between the mental and physical health of all Canadians, especially Black Canadians through the promoting health equity mental health of Black Canadians fund.
Under the COVID-19 and mental health initiative, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research has also launched, in partnership with four provincial research agencies, a funding opportunity to better understand mental health and/or substance use needs of individuals and communities due to the pandemic. We have to admit that there is a huge problem with overdose and opioids in Canada. In parallel with the COVID-19 pandemic, many communities continue to struggle with a second public health crisis, namely the devastating impacts of substance use and the overdose crisis.
In response, our government is taking a number of targeted actions to remove barriers and reduce the risk of harm for people struggling with problematic substance use. As somebody with 24 years of sobriety myself, I know how important this is and I wish everybody who is struggling to find the wellness they deserve. People need to speak up and ask for help and they will get it.
In addition, Health Canada is supporting front-line workers who are delivering important substance use treatment and harm reduction services as well as community-based projects.
For the cultural industries, I am very pleased to see that our government has made a commitment to building strong, Canadian cultural industries. We pledge to require digital giants to contribute to the creation, production and distribution of our own Canadian stories on screen, writing, music and in lyrics and to share the revenue more fairly with Canadian artist creators. It is about time.
As well, the short-term compensation fund will compensate for the lack of insurance coverage for Canada's vital screen industry due to COVID-19 related interruptions. The $50 million fund, to be administered by Telefilm Canada along with the Canada Media Fund, will be made available to our industry. This is welcomed news for the hard-working artists across the country who are just dying to get back to work. ACTRA national president David Sparrow said that after years of consultation, it welcomed the Canadian government taking action to level the playing field between traditional and digital broadcasters.
This is just a snapshot of some of the actions that have been taken to protect vulnerable Canadians and those who have become more vulnerable during this crisis. This pandemic, like no other crisis in our history, has put into stark relief the importance of our government's overriding commitment to protect the health, safety and well-being of Canadians. I can assure the House that we will continue to do everything within our power and jurisdiction to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
