Critics say Mental Health Act doesn't address youth
'All provinces in Canada have developed a youth and children's
strategy,' said Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses. 'Except us.'
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 3, 2015
INUVIK
While overall attendees at a public review meeting of the Mental Health Act Aug. 25 were pleased changes to the legislation is coming, the bill was criticized as lacking.
Patricia Langois, left, MLA Wendy Bisaro, MLA Norman Yakeleya, MLA Alfred Moses and MLA Daryl Dolynny visited Inuvik for a public consultation on the proposed new Mental Health Act, which is before the legislative assembly, Aug. 25 at the Inuvik Community Corporation building. More than 20 people turned out for the meeting. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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The bill, as it stands, does not make any provision for young people and children suffering from mental illnesses, said Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses.
"All provinces in Canada have developed a youth and children's strategy," said Moses, chair of the standing committee on social programs. "All of them except us."
The committee stopped first in Inuvik on its tour of the territory with the draft legislation. While the tour is set to wrap up before the next session of the legislative assembly, members of the committee stated that they are in no rush to push the new legislation through.
The new Mental Health Act would replace the one that has been in place since 1985 and would govern things like under what circumstances a person can be assessed for a mental illness without their consent.
The 20 or so people at the meeting, however, were more interested in the frontline aspects of mental health issues than legislative changes.
"This really is a mental illness act," said Sheila O'Kane. "What we need is a mental wellness act, which would address things like offering quality daycare and youth activities. What this act needs is a companion act."
Everyone who spoke at the meeting related their own concerns, either for themselves or loved ones, having to do with mental health.
Moses said at the outset that mental health is a massive issue in the territory and specifically the region. Yellowknife's Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny, a member of the standing committee, pointed to the Beaufort Delta's dubious distinction of having one of the highest suicide rates in the country.
The bill, Moses said, changes the old legislation in two significant ways. First, it provides for the creation of review boards which could be accessed in the event that either a patient or a loved one felt a case had been mishandled. Second, it lays out framework for the development of assisted community treatment, which would ostensibly allow people to return to their communities and get the help they need there.
That, however, depends on a lot more than this legislation. As Jennifer Waterhouse pointed out, keeping staff that would see to that treatment is a daunting challenge.
"A big challenge we have with mental health and addictions workers is housing," she told the panel. "We can't keep them because they have nowhere to live."
She also mentioned high stress levels and burnout as important factors in the high rate of turnover experienced on the frontline. The high turnover rate that has left 21 of 73 frontline positions vacant for one year or longer across the territory, said Dolynny.
By far the most recurrent complaint was that not enough has been done to provide for children and young people.
Karen Mitchell, who spoke passionately on behalf of Inuvik's youth, read out a text she had received from a girl who had declined to come to the meeting. She said she didn't want to go because it wouldn't make a difference anyway.
"We need the youth present so we can speak with them, not for them," said Mitchell. "I don't want this to be just an act. I want to see participation from everyone . not just government."
The committee will be visiting other communities with the draft legislation before returning to Yellowknife. 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. "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."
