Members of the territorial government's standing committee on social programs include researcher Lee Selleck, left, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro, Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, committee chair and Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses, Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny and committee clerk Danielle Mager. - April Hudson/NNSL photo |
Committee hears concerns over Mental Health Act
Residents want more services in small communities, more for youth as part of legislation
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Monday, September 21, 2015
KA'A'GEE TU/KAKISA
The territorial government's standing committee on social programs has will be heading back to legislative assembly having heard a variety of concerns from residents across the territory about how a new-and-improved Mental Health Act should look.
On Sept. 10, committee members made their last stops in Kakisa and Fort Providence for two consultation panels with community members.
Panelists included researcher Lee Selleck, committee clerk Danielle Mager, chair and Inuvik-Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses, Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro and Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny.
As it stands, the new act will establish a review board for medical complaints, which previously were dealt with only through the NWT Supreme Court. Additionally, it will require a mandatory review every five years and will establish assisted community treatment plans.
"That means people who come back after receiving treatment have support within their community," Moses said.
Kakisa elder Margaret Leishman shared her personal struggles with the panel, saying she wants to see more local support for elders who develop mental health issues, as well as a treatment place for community members experiencing mental health problems.
"In a community like ours, the resources are not here," she said.
She said smaller communities also need more education and awareness about mental health.
"This is the beginning of what I want to see done - educating people," she said. "A lot of elders in this community are sick, and it really bothers me. I carry a heavy burden in my heart."
Moses said the concerns the committee heard in Kakisa reflect those expressed in other small communities about a lack of resources and services.
"In every community, we have heard there has to be a cultural component," he said.
Ka'a'gee Tu Chief Lloyd Chicot told the panel one of the challenges his community faces dates back to the historic settling of the Northwest Territories, which scattered some community members and forced others to live together.
"With all the struggles we've been going through in the past 50 years, there is a lot of alcohol and drug abuse. We've been through it. The people you see here have survived those things," he said.
Chicot said many of the smaller communities in the Deh Cho have been rocked by suicides recently, including Kakisa and Trout Lake.
Moses told community members the same thing has occurred in other communities across the NWT.
The standing committee cancelled its planned trip to Tuktoyaktuk out of respect for the community after two suicides took place.
The committee stopped in Inuvik Aug. 25, where attendees told the panel they were pleased changes to the legislation is coming, although they did point out a perceived oversight.
The bill, as it stands, does not make any provision for young people and children suffering from mental illnesses.
"All provinces in Canada have developed a youth and children's strategy," said Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses, chair of the standing committee on social programs.
"All of them except us."
Inuvik resident Karen Mitchell spoke passionately on behalf of Inuvik's youth and read out a text she had received from a girl who had declined to come to the meeting. The girl had told Mitchell she didn't want to go because she thought it wouldn't make a difference.
"We need the youth present so we can speak with them, not for them," she said. "I don't want this to be just an act. I want to see participation from everyone ... not just government."
On Aug. 24, the committee was in Yellowknife discussing how the new act would address situations that have been followed by tragedy in the past - such as when a patient doesn't feel ready to leave a hospital before being discharged.
On April 26, Yellowknife teenager Timothy Henderson died after acting out a suicide scenario. His parents went public soon after, saying he had repeatedly sought mental-health treatment but was quickly released from hospital.
James Boraski, Henderson's step-father and spokesperson for the family, said they've been interviewed by the review committee and are hopeful the process results in improvements.
They've also spoken to MLAs reviewing the new Mental Health Act and plan to pen a written response to the legislation as currently drafted.
"We're taking quite a focused look at the act as it pertains to our case," he said.
"We questioned the competency of the evaluative process of these - victims I call them - go through before leaving hospital. The immediacy and continuity of care is a concern."
The original Mental Health Act came into effect in 1985 and has not had a thorough review for nearly three decades. In June of this year, the new act came before the legislative assembly. It passed first and second reading before being referred to the standing committee. Now that the committee has finished its tour of the NWT, members will discuss what changes should be made to the act and bring that back to the legislative assembly before the end of this session.
While the matter is certainly pressing after 30 years with no significant legislative changes, members of the committee said they were more concerned with getting it right than getting it passed quickly.
"Legislation is like laundry," said Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya in Inuvik August 25.
"We have to wash it, work it, see what comes out. Let's do it right, let's do it properly ... we know that it's not right. Let's make it right."
- with files from Shane Magee and Sarah Ladik
