FSIN shows leadership on suicide prevention
Money for programs is key, but even more important is political will
It will take dollars to tackle the First Nation and Metis suicide issues, but what’s more required is a matter of will.
To that end, congratulations to the chiefs of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) for the leadership they just displayed in adopting the First Nations Suicide Prevention Strategy.
“If we were waiting for government to show this kind of leadership, it would have never been done,” said Jack Hicks, adjunct professor for the department of Community Health and Epidemiology in the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, who served as a technical adviser.
Hicks is optimistic that First Nations leadership, including FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron (who suggested this week taking governments to court for the money if necessary), and Vice-Chief David Pratt will no longer allow governments to ignore this issue.
Such resolve is a remarkable change in itself. In fairness, First Nations leadership also hasn’t demonstrated the commitment to this issue.
However, full marks to the FSIN for the leadership it has clearly shown in now investing in the Mental Health Technical Working Group that produced this strategy. As Vice-Chief Heather Bear noted when the working group was established a year ago: “There has never been a suicide prevention strategy for our people by our people.”
The comprehensive paper that was produced and revealed publicly for the first time Thursday is certainly deserving of attention for its alarming statistical numbers alone. According to the paper, Indigenous suicide rates overall are 38.9 per 100,000 people (compared with nine per 100,000 for non-Indigenous people). The rate formal es is 48.7 per 100,000 (compared with 14 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous) and 29.3 per cent among females (compared with 3.5 per 100,000 for nonIndigenous).
“Overall, the rate of death by suicide among First Nations people in Saskatchewan is 4.3 times higher than the rate among non-First Nations people in the province,” the report notes.
“The ratio among younger people is higher still: The rate for First Nations women aged 10 to 19 is 29.7 times higher than that of non-First Nations women in that age range, and for First Nations women in their 20s the rate is 10.1 times higher.”
As of 2016, there were 508 suicide deaths among Indigenous people from the time the Saskatchewan coroner’s office first starting tracking ethnicity in 2005.
Moreover, Saskatchewan sees a higher rate of Aboriginal teenage girls commit suicide than non-Aboriginal teenage boys — alarming, because male teenage suicide is generally higher in every category. Hicks stressed that more specific research is required here. But research from elsewhere points to the risk factors of “childhood adversity” like bullying, contagion effects of other suicides, substance abuse and abuses in homes as all potential contributors.
What should be stressed is the 108-page report is more than just a statistical recitation. Its content and 75 recommendations highlight the best anti-suicide strategies implemented throughout North America — and not all of them cost millions.
The report noted intervention strategies practised by the White Mountain Apache in Arizona where a “tribal health care delivery” system simply offers followup and monitoring of those who made previous suicide attempts.
“This could be done in Saskatchewan without great expense,” Hicks said, adding it would help in northern communities like La Loche. “Clearly, anyone who has attempted suicide is someone we should worry about.”
The paper also points to Quebec’s overall success recognizing it had a disproportionally high suicide problem and addressing it by adopting World Health Organization best practices like better training for first responders in recognizing potential suicide risk.
Money is needed, but what’s needed more right now is better awareness by federal and provincial politicians, who demonstrated in a recent 75-minute debate that they don’t get the First Nations suicide problem.
Indigenous leaders are demonstrating the will to address the suicide crisis. Less clear is whether the rest of us share that will.