Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have all seen tragedies in our communities. Many of them happen while someone is struggling with mental health, and too often people, our constituents, don’t get the help they need.
In general, there’s a lack of support for families and friends and even lack of support for the agencies who have to work with people who are mentally ill. People are often faced with really hard questions. What do you do when a mentally ill person refuses help or someone with a mental illness refuses to take their medication?
It’s also fairly common for someone to be hospitalized under the Mental Health Act, only to get themselves released a short time later. They come home and the uncertainty begins again for their family, friends and neighbours.
If a person is abusive, they typically cannot be admitted to the hospital; but if they haven’t committed a crime, the RCMP is not there to help either. I have experienced this personally, Mr. Speaker, in a small town like Hay River where a person who was suffering from a mental illness could not be received at the hospital because of verbal abuse, could not be received by the RCMP because they hadn’t committed a crime, could not be received at social services because there was no hotel or anywhere in town that would actually take them in because of their condition. What do you do when it’s 40 below, and it’s the middle of winter and you have a person in this situation? It’s very, very frustrating. Sometimes I think there is too much emphasis on police in our so-called mental health system. If a person commits a crime, it’s actually easier for them to get help.
I’m very glad to hear the Health and Social Services is starting a Mental Health First Aid project. It’s based on a course designed by the Canadian Mental Health Commission. I read in the paper that the first two communities to take part will be Tuktoyaktuk and Fort McPherson. I wish them every success, but I would like to see people taught Mental Health First Aid all over our territory. Next maybe try a regional centre. I think Hay River would welcome it.
Thirty years ago there was very little known about anxiety disorder, panic attacks, schizophrenia, bi-polar, all of these mental illnesses for which now there is a lot more knowledge and understanding, and a lot more awareness. I think we as a government have a long ways to go yet in terms of addressing the supports and the facilities needed to address the issue of mental illness. If we come across a person who is having a heart attack, people know CPR; if somebody’s choking, they know how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre; but when someone is suffering and having some kind of crises that is mentally ill, we have very little support.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
