Question Period Note: Release of the Final Report of the Mass Casualty Commission

•The tragedy that took place in Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19, 2020, devastated families, friends, communities, and the country.
•Canadians deserve answers as to what happened in April 2020, how it happened, and what lessons can be learned to help keep our communities safer in the future.
•That is why the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia established the Mass Casualty Commission, which delivered its final report on March 30, 2023.
•The report addresses key issues affecting the safety of Canadians including gender-based and intimate partner violence, policing reforms, public alerting, and reducing gun violence.
•The report also highlights a need for long-term sustainable mental health services and supports for those affected by the mass casualty incident.
•Recognizing that mental health services are a prominent theme in the final report, the Government of Canada is committed to work in close collaboration with provinces and territories on mental health initiatives.
•We are carefully reviewing the final report and are committed to carry this important work forward to make our communities safer.

IF PRESSED ON CURRENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
•Through Budget 2021, the Government committed in excess of $280 million for a suite of measures to support the mental health needs of marginalized and disproportionately impacted Canadians, while also investing in health systems improvements.
•Moving forward, our Government is committed to ensure that mental health care is treated as a full and equal part of our universal health care system.

Following the devastating mass casualty incident in Nova Scotia on April 18-19, 2020, on October 21, 2020 the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia (NS) each issued an Order in Council (OIC) establishing the Mass Casualty Commission (the Commission). The Commission is an independent public inquiry created to examine the mass casualty event and to provide meaningful recommendations to help keep communities safe.

On April 28, 2022, the Commission submitted its interim report, which outlined the Commission’s approach, phases of work, and a summary of the foundational and commissioned reports. From April to September 2022, the Commission hosted a series of public hearings and roundtable discussions consisting of experts, academics and law enforcement professionals to provide knowledge and insight on the core themes under the Commissions mandate. In October 2022, the Commission was granted an extension until March 31, 2023 to submit its final report.

The Commission hosted an event on March 30, 2023 in Truro, NS where the report was released to the public. The Prime Minister attended the release and was joined by the Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, and the Premier of Nova Scotia, Tim Houstan. The release of the Commission’s final report is important not only for its findings and recommendations, but also for symbolic reasons. The delivery of the report marks the passing of this important work from the hands of the independent Commission to the Governments of Canada and NS.

The final report, Turning the Tide Together, provides 130 recommendations and is organized thematically in seven volumes: Context and Purpose; What Happened; Violence (17 recommendations); Community (32 recommendations); Policing (75 recommendations); Implementation – A Shared Responsibility to Act (1 recommendation); and Process (5 recommendations). Many of the recommendations focus on cross cutting issues that implicate Public Safety Canada (PS), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and to a lesser extent the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Of the 75 recommendations on policing, some are specific to the RCMP and others point generally to all police of jurisdiction. Recommendations impacting the Public Safety Portfolio include amendments to the RCMP Act, reviewing the public alert system, examining the RCMP’s approach to contract policing, restructuring the RCMP, modernizing police education, changes to the RCMP’s management culture, improving information sharing, amendments to the Firearms Act, and that the Governments of Canada and NS should establish and fund an implementation and mutual accountability body by May 31, 2023.

Of the 32 recommendations on community, 7 recommendations pertain to mental health and wellbeing, 2 of which will directly implicate the Health Portfolio. The recommendations call for joint action from Health Canada and provincial/territorial governments to develop a national policy, protocols and program to provide a range of health and social support services (including the development of a national standard for post-mass casualty incident support plans), and for the Governments of Canada and NS to jointly fund a program to address the public health emergency that exists in Colchester, Cumberland, and Hants counties by May 1, 2023.

Current Mental Health Activities

Ongoing Government Investments to Improve Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Health Services

The government will provide $25 billion over 10 years to support shared health priorities through tailored bilateral agreements, with the view to supporting individual provincial and territorial needs and circumstances in four priority areas: family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and a modernized health system.

This investment will build on the Budget 2017 investments, which included $2.4 billion from 2023-24 to 2026-27 that has yet to flow to PTs for mental health and addictions services.
Through Budget 2017, the Government of Canada is providing $5 billion over ten years (2017-2027) to provinces and territories to improve Canadians’ access to mental health and addictions services. The investment is being provided via negotiated bilateral agreements to help them expand access to community-based mental health and addiction services for children and youth, integrated services for people with complex needs, and spread proven models of community mental health care and culturally appropriate interventions linked to primary health services.

National Standards for Mental Health and Substance Use Health Services

Budget 2021 provided $45 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, to Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to develop national mental health and substance use health service standards, in collaboration with provinces and territories, health organizations, and key stakeholders. Standards are tools for supporting health providers in the delivery of high-quality and equitable mental health and substance use health services and will help to ensure a consistent level of care is provided. Standards will be evidence-based and developed through consensus-based processes that engage experts, health organizations, people with lived and living experience, and other key stakeholders. On March 14, 2022, Health Canada announced a partnership with Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to coordinate the development of national standards for mental health and substance use health services, following commitments made in Budget 2021. Standards will be developed in priority areas that align with Budget 2017 investments in mental health and addictions.

Integrated Youth Services

In November of 2022, the government announced $18 million dollars to fund integrated youth projects and develop a “network of networks” as well as an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) National Data Framework and Infrastructure. IYS models of care provide locally relevant, effective, youth-focused and integrated services for mental health/substance use within the community.

Pandemic-Response Initiatives

Wellness Together Canada

Health Canada invested $130 million from 2020-2022 in Wellness Together Canada, an online mental health and substance use support portal, and received $140 million in Budget 2022 to support the portal for two more years, beginning in 2022-23. Launched in April 2020, Wellness Together Canada provides free and confidential online mental health and substance use supports accessible 24/7 to individuals across Canada in both official languages. Interpretation services are also available during phone sessions in over 200 languages and dialects. Through Wellness Together Canada, individuals in all provinces and territories have immediate access to supports ranging from self-assessment, educational content and self-guided programming to peer support and confidential sessions with social workers, psychologists and other professionals. Supports are provided online as well as by phone and text for those without internet access.

There are dedicated text lines for youth, adults and front-line workers that provide immediate access to support. There is also a dedicated phone line for accessing Program Navigators that can assist with finding resources on the portal. Wellness Together Canada augments existing provincial and territorial services and does not replace them. In January 2022, Wellness Together Canada launched PocketWell, which is a companion app to the online Portal.

As of April 10, 2023, over 3.4 million individuals across all provinces and territories have accessed the Wellness Together Canada portal in over 9.5 million web sessions. The new PocketWell mobile app has been downloaded a total of 39,053 times. Additionally, over 44% of registered clients of the portal are under 30, an age group that tends to underutilize traditional mental health services.

Support for the Mental Health Needs of Those Most Affected by COVID-19

Through Budget 2021, the Government Canada is providing $100 million over three years, to support projects that promote mental health and prevent mental illness in populations disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic including youth, seniors, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and Black and other racialized Canadians. The Government of Canada is also providing $50 million over two years to support projects that address PTSD and trauma in health care workers, front-line and other essential workers and others affected by the pandemic. Funded projects are delivering diverse mental health promotion and prevention interventions, including resilience building, peer support, mental health literacy, and training and resources for service providers.

Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Mental Illness

Through the PHAC Mental Health Promotion Innovation Fund, the Government of Canada is investing $39 million from 2019-2028 to address multiple risk and protective factors to promote mental health for children, youth, young adults and populations susceptible to mental health inequities (e.g., low-income families, immigrants and refugees, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, LGBTQ2+, people living with disabilities and people with other socio-economic risk factors). The Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund is investing $10 million to support community-based projects across Canada.

In addition, the 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced a $50 million investment to bolster the capacity of distress centres, which are experiencing a surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHAC is administering an initial round of grants to 57 distress centres in winter/spring 2021. A portion of funds will support an additional round of grants in fiscal year 2021-22. In addition, $2 million of this funding will support the development of resources to assist distress centres in meeting the needs of diverse and vulnerable populations.

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