Question Period Notes
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Indigenous Peoples face unique challenges to having fair and equitable access to quality and culturally safe health care services, including early childhood trauma, income, access to stable housing, and the historical and ongoing effects of colonization and the residential school system on First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
Budget 2023 confirmed the Government of Canada’s commitment to improve health care in Canada through a historic investment of close to $200 billion over ten years, of which $25B will flow to provinces and territories through tailored bilateral agreements. These bilateral agreements will support progress on four shared priorities to improve access to health care, with mental health addressed by or included within all four priorities for residents of PT jurisdictions, including Indigenous peoples.
Municipalities and communities across Canada are struggling to respond to the needs of individuals with complex needs tied to mental health, substance use and precarious housing or homelessness. A lack of appropriate, wrap-around health and social services tied to housing results in increased economic costs for these communities, and poor outcomes for individuals with complex needs. Collaboration between all levels of government and with stakeholders is required for better cross-sectoral integrated services
Canada is experiencing an unprecedented and unrelenting rate of opioid-related overdose deaths and harms, due to the increasingly toxic illegal drug supply, and has been exacerbated by that the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2016, more than 38,500 people have died of apparent opioid toxicity in Canada.
The 2021 Mandate letter for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health includes a mandate priority to “Advance a comprehensive strategy to address problematic{sic} substance use in Canada, supporting efforts to improve public education to reduce stigma, and supporting provinces and territories and working with Indigenous communities to provide access to a full range of evidence-based treatment and harm reduction, as well as to create standards for substance use treatment programs.”
In collaboration with provincial and territorial partners, the Government of Canada is working to increase access to the full continuum of mental health and substance use services to better support the needs of Canadians.
Key federal actions include increasing investments to provinces and territories to improve access to mental health and substance use services, as well as on targeted initiatives on key priorities, such as integrated services for children and youth, suicide prevention, and addressing the overdose crisis and toxic drug supply.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the leading known cause of preventable developmental disability in Canada. Caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, FASD has life-long impacts
Harm reduction measures are one critical part of a comprehensive public health approach to substance use. Harm reduction aims to save lives, and reduce the negative health, social and economic impacts of substance use on individuals, their families and communities, without requiring abstinence. Harm reduction services also help people who use substances to make connections with health and social services, including treatment and recovery.
Many mental health issues manifest before adulthood, and contribute to a disproportionately large percentage of hospitalizations due to these disorders, among children and youth.
The mental health of youth was in decline before the COVID-19 pandemic, which further exacerbated this trend. Through the pandemic, symptoms of depression and anxiety have also increased among this age group.
There is an opportunity to better address the mental health needs of children and youth by focusing on early intervention in community based settings.
Black Canadians experience multiple vulnerabilities related to their mental and physical health, largely due to underlying socio-economic conditions, including experiences of anti-Black racism.
The quality and accessibility of mental health and substance use health services varies across the country. Furthermore, inequities in access to quality services are greater for populations that face barriers to care, including Indigenous peoples.
British Columbia’s proposed class actions against opioid manufacturers, distributors and consultants seek damages for opioid-related health care costs on behalf of the provincial, territorial and federal governments.