The naming of Carolyn Bennett as Canada’s minister for mental health and addictions had personal meaning for Noah Irvine. Now he wants to see action.
In a cabinet shuffle late last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Canada’s first federal minister for mental health and addictions, Carolyn Bennett.
The government hailed the move as a key step to prioritize the mental health file amid a pandemic that has lengthened wait lists for mental health care, exacerbated a deadly opioid crisis and left many without income or stable housing.
To Noah Irvine, the appointment comes years too late.
The 21-year-old student from Guelph has lobbied the federal government to create a separate position for mental health since early 2017. His efforts are fuelled by loss. His mother died by suicide in May of 2005; his father from an accidental prescription drug overdose 10 years later after struggling with addiction.
“I wanted to make sure that their stories were not forgotten,” Irvine said.
Irvine sent more than 1,500 letters to MPs, premiers and provincial legislatures asking for the creation of a separate mental health ministry at the federal and provincial levels. Some responded, saying it was not needed, or redundant alongside the existing health ministry. He spoke to Trudeau on the phone in 2017 about appointing a mental health secretariat, a proposal the PM supported, Irvine said.
But it would be four years until Bennett’s naming. In that time, more than 21,800 Canadians died from suspected opioid overdoses, and more than 15,520 by suicide.
For Irvine, the question remains: now that this appointment is here, what will the government do with it?
Bennett, a Toronto family physician and former minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, got the mandate letter for her new role on Dec. 16. It outlined key priorities for the file, including: setting up a permanent mental health funding transfer to provinces; expanding access to care for youth, students, Indigenous people and veterans; and overseeing mental health spending in Canada. She is also tasked with setting up Canada’s three-digit suicide help line.
A spokesperson for the minister said Friday the office is now fully staffed and added government staff at Health Canada and elsewhere who were already working on mental health will now work alongside Bennett.
Bennett’s office said her new role “brings an important focus to mental health and substance use challenges in Canada,” and that programs like the planned Canada Mental Health Transfer will help expand care and programs across the country.
They added that mental health has been a priority for the government since 2015, with $5 billion sent to provinces and territories to increase the availability of mental health care, and more than $600 million spent to address the opioid crisis, among other funding.
The Canada Mental Health Transfer, with $4.5 billion allocated to it by the Liberal government in the next five years, has already received pushback from some provinces. British Columbia said a separate transfer for mental health would be too confusing, as many mental health programs are already funded by the Canada Health Transfer. Alberta has also rejected the idea.
In response, Bennett said in an interview to The Canadian Press that a separate transfer will help the government develop a national, cohesive strategy for mental health care.
For Irvine, a national, focused mental health strategy has long been something that could benefit Canadians. That’s why he believed a separate federal file was always needed — “Someone needs to be at the helm so that if policy fails, somebody can be accountable,” he said.
He said while Ottawa has spent billions on mental health since 2015, the opioid crisis has worsened and the suicide rate has remained consistent (with the exception of 2020, where early data shows the suicide rate has dropped). “To have a government that just funds (mental health) and walks away from it is very irresponsible, and it doesn’t make much financial sense.”
Irvine is not the first to suggest a separate federal file for mental health. The idea dates back to 2011 in a parliamentary report on palliative care, in which a key recommendation was to establish an adequately funded federal suicide prevention secretariat that would draft and implement a national suicide prevention strategy.
But for years after, Irvine said the idea of a separate mental health file was dismissed by many in government. In his last round of letters to MPs in early 2021, Irvine cited the example of Australia, which appointed an associate minister for mental health and suicide prevention in 2020.
Lloyd Longfield, the Liberal representing Irvine’s riding in Guelph, responded to him in March and said he believed a separate ministry was not needed. “I feel the Ministry of Health is best suited now to continue the work we have started to address the gaps and mental health needs of Canadians,” he wrote.
Adam Vaughan, then a Toronto Liberal MP who served as Trudeau’s parliamentary secretary from 2015 to 2017, also said he didn’t support the idea. “We need new programs and cooperation among governments and service providers, not new ministries,” he wrote in response to Irvine. “Federal silos often create less cooperation.”
Vaughan, who did not seek re-election in 2021, told the Star his comments were fuelled by the belief that ministries take a long time to set up, and that bureaucracy often gets in the way of real movement: “You kind of paralyze progress on issues.”
He did commend the appointment of Bennett, and said her background will help. But he added the challenge will be to work across jurisdictional lines — federal, provincial, municipal and with Indigenous communities — to deliver effective programs. This, he said, has to occur in tandem with housing programs.
“If you can match the mental health and addiction dollars to supportive housing programs, I think we can solve a lot of problems very quickly,” he said. “The challenge is we have to build these programs a lot faster.”
Longfield, re-elected in 2021, has since expressed support for the new file, writing to the Star in an email that the pandemic has shown a need for new national mental health standards. “The federal government has heard Canadians,” he said, adding “I’m also happy for Noah and glad to see that his hard work and determination has paid off.”
Irvine said he believes it took a pandemic to prioritize mental health at the federal level. But he said he will be watching whether Bennett delivers on issues like reducing wait times for care or tackling the opioid crisis head-on.
“I asked for a ministry, but I am asking for more than token ministries,” Irvine said.
“Minister Bennett being there is a start, it is not the end goal.”
If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at crisisservicescanada.ca or you can connect to the national suicide prevention helpline at 1-833-456-4566, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.
Article From: The Star
Author: Nadine Yousif
