Mental health care in Canada: mending the access gaps
One of the lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, is that physical illness has its psychological side. There is the worry about catching it, the behaviour change necessary to managing it (e.g. distancing and masking), and the sadness, stress, and isolation it leaves in its wake (e.g. loved ones becoming gravely ill, job […]
A modern mental health sector
Every day at Mental Health Research Canada, we are asked “what is the impact of COVID-19 on Canadian’s mental health?” For over a year, we have been grappling with that question as we have been collecting data, ongoing, since a few weeks into the pandemic. Covid-19 has had a tremendous impact on the mental health […]
For Inuit, the key to better mental health is our culture
The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is currently holding a health summit with participants from Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and Chukotka (Russia). The focus is on youth and how a strong connection to our culture is a protective factor against suicide, and essential to improved mental well being. It’s a delicate topic. For three hours a day, […]
‘The time is now’ to push Liberals on mental health transfer promise, says NDP MP
Parliamentarians and mental health organizations say they are ready to push the Liberal government to deliver on its promise of a multi-billion-dollar mental health transfer before the momentum from the recent election dies down. “Often these things get a lot of attention, and then they start to fade as other priorities come up. We campaigned […]
Mental Health Policy Briefing
Certification hearing set for multi-billion-dollar Black public servants’ class-action suit
A Federal Court judge has directed that a proposed multi-billion-dollar class-action lawsuit against the federal government, launched on the part of now more than 1,000 current and former Black federal public servants, be moved forward with a certification hearing scheduled for three days, beginning Sept. 21, 2022. In March 2021, The Hill Times reported that […]
Post-election requires thoughtful mental health action
Mental health was addressed in most platforms of Canadian political parties during the recent election. The Liberals proposed a “Canada Mental Health Transfer” and perhaps that, or a version of that, will be forthcoming when Parliament resumes. However, for any initiative to have substantive and sustained impact on enhancing mental health and improving access to […]
House Speaker election could force 338 MPs to rub shoulders in Ottawa amid COVID’s fourth wave
The election of the next Speaker of the House of Commons could force 338 MPs into close quarters as the fourth wave of COVID-19 rages across Canada, unless the party House leaders can find a workaround. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) told reporters on Sept. 28 that the House would return some time this […]
Violence, anti-Semitism, and poutine? The COVID-19 election was one to remember
In all the hustle and bustle of the election season, it’s almost easy to forget that a pandemic is still raging outdoors, burning through lives and human health like so much dry wood in a forest fire. But with that reality, candidates and party leaders had to get a little creative with their campaign during […]
Nonsense election call could overshadow Liberal record
HALIFAX—Jody Wilson-Raybould may have made the definitive statement on Canadian politics and election 2021 when she said this to me the other day: “I think we are on a concerning path—the polarization that is happening.” Canadians have been treated to a campaign that has seen the PM of Canada pelted with gravel, and his wife […]
