It bemuses me to think that our local MP Mark Strahl and his Conservative colleagues are revelling about a suicide hotline.
It’s become openly obvious that Canada’s political elite has no clue or empathy for those who live their lives in overwhelming depression, never mind the 42,000 who attempt suicide every year.
Good grief man, if I or any of the hundreds of thousands of citizens suffering from depression in this country have to call a suicide hotline, then we’ve failed miserably.
As a life-long surviving sufferer of severe PTSD, the last thing I need is a suicide hotline; my plan is already in place.
I can, though, tell you what we do need, and it certainly isn’t political rhetoric and doublespeak. As it stands right now, there is no help whatsoever, unless you commit a crime.
If you want to make an appointment to see a psychologist, unless you fall into the criminal aspect, you’re on at least a two-year waiting list, and you’ll eventually be bumped right off it, unless you’re “totally off the deep end.”
I have an idea, why don’t we fund a National Mental Health and Homeless Strategy. Let’s make it illegal in Canada not to have a physical address?
We also need to at least quadruple the number of mental health professionals right across the country.
We also need to replace the myriad of social service agencies into a single entity, that co-ordinates living allowances, government pensions, social welfare, and employment insurance into a single agency, such as a guaranteed livable income.
It’s only through a system, such as this, that we can track and co-ordinate the help needed and its urgency, which currently, is overwhelming and drastically underserved.
Arthur Green
Hope
