Talking about suicide prevention

Over the past year, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) has been actively encouraging all 308 members of Parliament to shine a light on suicide prevention by holding a forum for conversation in their communities. 

That is why on September 8th, my colleague Dan Albas and I, MC radio morning host Phil Johnson, and the Okanagan Suicide Awareness Society opened the doors of the Parkinson Recreation Centre and welcomed people in to talk about suicide. 

Many brave people came forward to tell their stories.

Among the tears, and yes, some laughter, there were many comments about how the community needs to do more to help folks with mental health issues.  

In this respect it was good to see such a cross-section of our community present including our school district trustees, local government representatives, as well as those from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Interior Health (IHA), and other individuals who work on the front lines of social services.

Folks need and want to talk about suicide and suicide prevention because not talking about it is not working!

According to the World Health Organization, someone in the world commits suicide every 40 seconds, that means approximately 11 Canadians will end their lives today by suicide.

In BC, approximately 500 people take their own lives every year.

#308Conversations is designed to include Canadians from coast to coast to coast in a national dialogue about suicide prevention.

At the local level, #308Conversations will provide citizens with information on the actions and initiatives taking place in their own communities.

At the federal level, it will bring together community best practices to inform decision making and strategy in tackling the urgent issue of suicide.

The results will be gathered by the MHCC to produce a working community model with tools and solutions that can be shared as a resource for communities across Canada.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada exists as a result of the comprehensive May 2006 Senate report entitled “Out of the Shadows At Last: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada”. 

Created and funded by our government, the MHCC works to develop a national mental health strategy, share knowledge and best practices for the benefit of Canadians, and undertake public awareness and education in order to combat the hurtful stigma associated with mental illness.

I encourage constituents to go to www.mentalhealthcommission.ca  to access information and resources pertaining to mental health.

I’d also like to acknowledge the efforts of Dr. Harold Albrecht, MP, who championed the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act.  More information on this initiative is available through the Public Health Agency of Canada website at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca.

Organizing community events is one step in an ongoing process. As one participant noted to me in an e-mail, “Hearing from IH staff, seeing school district trustees attend, citizens touched by this horror, all walking out of that meeting and empowered by the ability to simply communicate openly. It was the most inspiring and moving event I have attended this year.”

I’ll be sharing what we learned with our MLA's and  I also hope to learn about the status of the after-hours mental health community care team that was in place in Kelowna, which is not presently active - an issue raised at our meeting by Christine Walsh, who is the Social Development Coordinator for the Central Okanagan Regional District.

Mainly, we need to keep talking to each other about suicide prevention because there are many of us trying to deal with tough personal issues alone.

Former CO of BC Dragoons, Cliff Jamieson, who many of us know from the Veterans community, recently sent out a tweet that said, “Thank you for taking this on. It's an important topic. Many people who are affected, fight it alone & lose.”

Many thanks again to those who came out to our meeting.  By reaching out, by talking, and by pooling our resources and best practices, we might have a chance of helping those who are struggling.

The key is to see others and their stories as our own - our family members and friends, our neighbours, our society, and our responsibility.  

 

The Honourable Ron Cannan is the Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country and welcomes your feedback at [email protected].  Information on local announcements and federal government programs can be found at www.cannan.ca. 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.