Falls city council calls for mental health ministry
Niagara Falls city council is calling on the provincial government to create a new ministry of mental health to better co-ordinate service delivery in Ontario.
Council unanimously approved a petition read out by Coun. Wayne Campbell last week.
A copy will be sent to all communities asking for their support to create the ministry, as has been done in British Columbia.
Campbell, whose daughter Katey suffered from mentalhealth issues and took her own life in 2013, said people in need of mental-health help quickly discover the current system is “failing them.”
“It is clear that the mental-healthcare needs and the addiction needs of individuals struggling in our community are inadequate, and too many people are falling through the cracks,” he said.
“The responsibility at the provincial level dealing with mental health is spread among 11 different ministries.
“If the present system continues to provide services in the future as it provides today, we will lose more young people to increased abuse of drugs and the possibility of an increase in suicide.
“If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you always got.”
Coun. Kim Craitor, a former MPP, congratulated Campbell on his petition and suggested all councillors sign it, which would increase the chances of it being introduced in the legislature.
“We could get a member to actually stand up in parliament, introduce this, and say it’s from the City of Niagara Falls because it has all our signatures on it,” he said.
“That would have more of an impact.”
Craitor said if the petition is sent without the signatures, it would likely get referred to a staff member.
“They just send a form letter, (say) ‘Thank you very much, this government is doing wonderful things in the area of mental health, we’ve spent x number of dollars.’
“We want to get a little more active with it.”
Earlier this month, an NDP private member’s bill that would create a ministry devoted to mental health and addictions passed a crucial vote in the legislature.
The legislation, introduced by NDP health critic France Gelinas, would create a new ministry tasked with, among other things, leading the “transformation” of Ontario’s mental health and addictions services; ensuring all Ontarians have “timely and equitable” access to an integrated system of mental health and addictions care; and ensuring all Ontarians can “seamlessly” navigate mental health and addictions supports.
“Creating a ministry to focus on mental health and addictions will set us up to deliver better health care to Ontario people,” said Gelinas.
“I look forward to working with my fellow New Democrats to keep pushing this legislation until we get the job done, and taking the next step to help Ontario families living with mental health and addiction issues.” rspiteri@postmedia.com twiiter.com/RaySpiteri