Pressure grows on Ontario to invest in mental health, addictions support in the north
CBC
The leader of Ontario's official opposition is calling for more mental health and addictions resources in Thunder Bay.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath visited the northwestern Ontario city on Tuesday, as pressure grows on the provincial government to fund a new 40-bed mental health and addictions crisis centre.
That proposal was submitted at the end of March 2021 by St. Joseph's Care Group, a not-for-profit healthcare organization that provides mental health and addiction services in the city.
But in the seven ensuing months, neither the organization's vice-president of addictions or mental health, Nancy Black, nor Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro have heard anything about it.
"We do feel like we're being ignored," said Carolyn Karle.
She's been advocating for more crisis beds in Thunder Bay since her 31-year-old daughter Dayna died of an accidental overdose on Sept. 19.
In recent weeks, Karle and her supporters have been flooding social media with the hashtag #tbaydemandsdetox and publicly asking Ontario Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo why there has been silence on the 40-bed proposal.
"We need to get more funding up here because people are dying every day," Karle said.
In 2020 alone, 99 people died of drug-related overdoses in Thunder Bay.
Meanwhile, about 3,000 people are being turned away every year from the Balmoral Centre, the only withdrawal management facility in Thunder Bay.
That's an average of eight people denied access to service every day.
"My campaign started as 'TBay demands detox' because I know that getting into detox is a foot in the door [for addictions treatment]," Karle said.
But the need for mental health and addictions programming stretches beyond more detox or crisis beds.
People and service providers in smaller towns and cities are being overwhelmed by addictions and homelessness, and are calling for better access to treatment.
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