Canada is getting a mental health and addictions ministry. What’s needed to make it work?
Global News
As Canada deals with the mental health impacts of COVID-19 and an ongoing opioid crisis, Trudeau has named Carolyn Bennett as the first minister of mental health and addictions.
Canada is getting a new ministry tasked with tackling the thorny issues of mental health and addictions across the country.
But experts are warning the gesture will be hollow if the government doesn’t make concrete policy changes to back it up.
“(The ministry) needs to have real resources — financial resources, as well as human resources — as well as a very clear mandate to address some of the major issues confronting our country now,” Bernie Pauly, a University of Victoria professor and scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, said.
“Specifically the overdose crisis.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Carolyn Bennett, who previously served as minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, as the first minister of mental health and addictions during his cabinet swearing-in on Tuesday.
In that role, she’ll likely be leading the charge of rolling out the promised $4.5 billion in new federal health transfers to the provinces and territories over the next five years.
Those transfers, the Liberal platform pledged, would be aimed at providing free, accessible mental health services.
The creation of the ministry is a good “first step,” according to experts like Karen Urbanoski, an associate professor at the University of Victoria.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
B.C.'s first blast of summer-like weather has triggered weather advisories for much of the southern part of the province as well as air quality advisories linked to wildfires.
Gabriella Patey, 31, was initially told her breast tumour was benign. Later, she was told she had terminal cancer. A third call informed her it was all a terrible mistake.
Physicians criticized the move to oust members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Air quality has improved in much of Quebec and Ontario, but wildfire smoke continues to affect parts of the Prairies, northern Ontario, and eastern Quebec.
The judges referred the lawyers in both cases to their professional regulators, but did not take more serious action.
Health Canada has issued a warning to consumers not to inhale nitrous oxide for recreational purposes as instances are on the rise and carry many health risks, including death.
The spiny creature found itself in Kelowna earlier this week, after the wreckage of a plane it had nested in was transported to the Okanagn from northern B.C.
Some of crypto’s key characteristics help explain why wealthy individuals who hold a lot of digital assets can be ripe targets for such attacks.
Tens of thousands of window-mounted air conditioner units are being recalled in Canada, with the federal government warning some affected units have a risk of mould growth.
The video was taken on Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Terrace shows a black bear family, including a young spirit bear, heading into the forest.
The B.C. government says a decade-old environmental assessment certificate remains valid for the construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.
Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore says an infant born prematurely and infected with measles has died in southwestern Ontario.
Teva Canada Ltd. said it received a complaint that a package contained an extra row of the placebos when there should be only one row of white placebo pills.