DEH CHO
The territorial government's standing committee on social programs has wrapped up consultation in communities across the NWT and is now deliberating on changes to Bill 55, the new Mental Health Act.

Deh Gah Got'ie Koe Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge gives the standing committee an outline of Fort Providence's history to help them better understand the underlying factors behind the mental health struggles of people in the area. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

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.

On Sept. 10, committee members travelled to 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.

Moses said the committee is trying to work out kinks in the new Act, which departs from the old legislation in three significant ways.

As it stands, Bill 55 will establish a review board for medical complaints, which previously were dealt with only through the NWT Supreme Court. Additionally, the new Act requires 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 and said 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," Leishman 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 that lack resources and services.

He added that the committee will be looking at reinstating a portion of the old Mental Health Act that stipulated medical professionals had to consult with community elders when dealing with mental health issues.

"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 mental 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.

In Fort Providence, the committee was met by a few community members, including Deh Gah Got'ie Koe Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge, who outlined the history of his people and the struggles his community has gone through, as well as his personal experience with the residential school system.

He said one of the largest contributing factors to the community's mental health as a whole has been the changing nature of the family unit.

According to Bonnetrouge, Fort Providence began to see more people moving to the community in 1955, due to increasing pressures for children to attend school.

"As fathers, that created pressure to feed their families, because their hunting grounds were 40 to 50 miles (away)," Bonnetrouge explained.

"I think the role of the father at that time disappeared ... the head of the family lost his role, and in Dene society that was really significant. To this day, a lot of us are still dealing with it because our fathers, uncles and grandfathers lived that."

Now that the standing committee has finished their tour of the Northwest Territories, they will discuss what changes should be made to the Act and bring that back to the legislative assembly before the end of the fifth session.

Moses said he expects the revised Act to be written into law some time in 2016.

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