Mental health staff arrive in N. Ontario

OTTAWA— New mental health workers arrived in Pikangikum First Nation on Tuesday to help hundreds of people seeking support in the northern Ontario community, Health Minister Jane Philpott says.

Additional nurses are also being sent to the reserve that has long struggled with a high prevalence of suicide including, most recently, the deaths of two girls.

Health Canada is working with other departments and provincial ministries to co-ordinate an immediate response following the recent deaths, Philpott added, noting she had a conference call Tuesday with members of the community, including the chief, who are “exhausted and shaken” as they try to address the situation and plan funerals.

“There have been literally hundreds of people in this one community alone that have come forward asking for counselling,” Philpott said in an interview. “We are needing . . . to supply . . . safe spaces for people to receive counselling, looking at accommodations for health workers who are going into the community.”

Many front-line workers and community members in other reserves are also experiencing a high degree of burnout due to the suicide crisis, said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, who leads an umbrella organization representing 49 First Nation communities in northern Ontario.

Communities including Wapekeka First Nation have also struggled to tackle the issue of youth suicide in recent months.

Fiddler said he plans to address the push for long-term solutions at a meeting in Ottawa next Monday with Philpott and Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins, noting communities must find a way to move beyond living crisis to crisis.