'This legislation doesn't include one iota of culture'
Proposed mental health law under fire from MLAs, advocates
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, August 28, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A proposed overhaul of the territorial Mental Health Act came under fire Monday from those who said it does not represent aboriginal culture and values.
After members of the legislative assembly's social programs committee lightly questioned the minister regarding the proposed changes set to be voted on this fall, three community members stepped to the table and said Bill 55 fails to address the culture of the North.
The preamble to the existing legislation calls on those treating patients to take culture into account when assessing or examining a person to determine whether or not the person is suffering from a mental disorder. That language has been stripped from the new legislation.
Noeline Villedrun, a former Dene National chief, said the proposed law doesn't reflect Dene values.
"We had our own medicine people," she told the committee. "Your legislation has taken that away from us. Your medicines, your technology."
Marie Speakman also pointed to that issue, saying more needs to be done to provide traditional mental-health treatment. Territorial residents need people who will help them, "not throw pills at them," she said.
"This legislation doesn't include one iota of culture. How offensive," said Arlene Hache, a social activist and former executive director of the Centre for Northern Families. "How blind and how arrogant can you be?"
By the time the three spoke, Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy and most of the health department staff had already left the meeting after previously answering questions from MLAs on the committee.
Hache said the bill comes years too late for several young people.
"I'm not as kind as you guys," said Hache, referring to the committee members. "I can see the bodies dropping. We've got young dead people here. We've got a guy jumping out of a plane the day he was released from the hospital," she continued, referring to Julian Tologanak-Labrie who jumped to his death from a plane flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay in 2009.
"We have dead bodies and you've got a department that refuses to address those issues and sits there and says, 'We have the best mental-health care in Canada,'" she said. "Give me a break. That is not true. Those parents deserve a better answer than they got."
Earlier, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro questioned the removal of the preamble referring to culture.
"I was quite struck by the fact that we seem to be removing reference to culture in the act," Bisaro said.
She characterized it as a "major" issue.
Thomas Druyan, legislative counsel with the department, told the committee preambles are generally avoided in legislation unless the purpose of the law needs clarification or the constitutional justification needs to be laid out.
Abernethy said he is open to suggested changes, saying perhaps the best way to address the issue would be to add a clause to the bill.
Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya, another committee member, said not including the cultural reference was a "slap in the face."
The law is based strictly in Western medical practice and doesn't cover traditional aboriginal approaches to mental health, he said.
"(The legislation) is not going to get an easy ride without a strong aboriginal aspect," Yakeleya said.
The minister said he's spoken to aboriginal leaders across the territory who have expressed a desire for both medical and traditional approaches to mental health. He again repeated he's open to suggested changes.
The committee considering the bill is travelling to other communities this summer to gather feedback from the public. The committee can recommend amendments, or changes, to the legislation based on what it hears.
The law, if approved as planned by the assembly this fall, would allow for patients to be released to communities for treatment, would set out patient rights, strengthen provisions allowing involuntary treatment and create an appeal board to consider questions regarding treatment.
The law is expected to create additional demand for staff and financing, but he couldn't give an estimate about how much, Abernethy said.
The minister said if it passes, the law would likely come into force in late 2016.
