Sen. Patterson calls for action, not reports, on suicide prevention
Call comes in response to Senate motion asking for federal study on suicide
Nunavut Sen. Dennis Patterson is calling for more action on suicide prevention after a Senate motion asking for a study on the issue. (Photo by David Lochead)
Nunavut Sen. Dennis Patterson is calling for more action on suicide prevention, and less focus on studies.
“We cannot begin to heal unless there’s concrete actions taken,” he said in an interview Monday.
Patterson initially issued the call for action in a speech in the Senate March 31, responding to a motion by Sen. Stan Kutcher that asked to review the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, 2016 document that spells out the federal government’s principles and objectives for preventing suicides.
“While I applaud the intent, I do have concerns about this motion,” he said in his speech, which he gave in Inuktitut through the Roman orthography, since he himself does not speak the language.
“My constituents in Nunavut, who are dealing with suicide and its impacts every day, need action instead of more studies.”
In an interview, Patterson focused on having programming and counselling led by Inuit, saying they are the ones who are suffering most from the suicide crisis in Nunavut.
The Tukisigiarvik Centre in Iqaluit and the Ilisaqsivik Society in Clyde River are good examples of the types of facilities needed in Nunavut, he said.
Both offer programming to help Inuit’s mental health and connection with their culture, Patterson said, adding that Ilisaqsivik also helps train Inuit to become mental health counsellors.
It’s important that each community in Nunavut has similar centres so Inuit can easily access mental health services instead of having to travel for them, he said.
With the federal budget to be released Thursday, Patterson said he expects to see a good amount of funding for mental health services that can be accessed in Nunavut.
Having been an MLA in Iqaluit of the Northwest Territories between 1978 to 1995, before Nunavut became a territory, he said there are career moments he is proud of and some he regrets, in terms of mental health.
Closing regional schools in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet that functioned similarly to residential schools while he was education minister are actions Patterson said is proud he took.
However, he said he regrets not discovering there were a couple of serial sex abusers within the Northwest Territories education system while he was an MLA, including Ed Horne.
He added many of Horne’s victims were traumatized by the incidents later struggled in their own lives.
“I regret that happened under my watch, without my knowledge,” Patterson said.
Outside of funding for mental health programs, he said the apology Pope Francis gave last Friday for the role of some Catholics in abuses that occurred within the residential school system is an important step forward in addressing the intergenerational trauma Inuit face when it comes to mental health.
Patterson added the apology, while not perfect, is seen as “a step in the journey and progress.”
Here are resources for people in distress who need to talk to someone:
Kamatsiaqtut Help Line is Nunavut-specific and offers services in Inuktitut. Phone: 979-3333 for Iqaluit residents and 1-800-265-3333 for other Nunavummiut.
The First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Helpline: 1-855-242-3310 or chat online at hopeforwellness.ca.
For years they did expensive studies about suicide in the north.
Did any of them bother asking the front line workers in the field.
the answer is no. shame on you
For long as I can remember prior to becoming Nunavut, Legislature spends their time doing suicide prevention strategies. Action needs to be taken, as we have lost too many to suicide. I, myself at times talk to individuals who have suicidal thoughts personally and/or through social media. There needs to be more elders involved in reaching out to young people alike, do youth/elder gatherings such as camping, telling stories, just to name a few. Yes the frontline workers, mental health & community counsellors do help from behind their desk, then what? Just my thought as I, in the past had to deal with 2 of my grown children -I am thankful they are with me today. God Bless those who are struggling to get on with their lives.
And yet Patterson helped to create and serve as deputy chair a special Senate committee to “study” the Arctic in 2018 and produce a report.
And wouldn’t vote on UNDRIP.
Senator No-Action Patterson
This is pretty rich. In all his years as an MLA and Premier in the NWT, Dennis Patterson took no action re: suicide prevention. Canada had an Inuit Minister of Health — Stephen Harper’s sock puppet Leona Aglukkaq. She could have snapped her fingers and ordered her staff to draft a national strategy for suicide prevention, and gone to Cabinet for funding. She did nothing, and Patterson said nothing about her doing nothing. Patterson has zero credibility on this issue. But he’s right about Senator Kutcher’s motion. The Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention was the non-strategy that the Harper government brought in to block an NDP motion calling for an actual strategy. It’s lame: no clear commitments, and no funding. Just blah blah blah. Rather than review it, the Liberals should replace it: with an adequately funded national strategy. On May 2, 2019, all members present in the House of Commons unanimously passed an NDP motion calling on the Liberal government to develop, implement and fund a national strategy for suicide prevention. It hasn’t happened. Canada is one of the few developed countries that blows off the World Health Organization’s recommendation that every country have a national strategy.
I’ll just leave this here. You’ll note the act came in 2012 (During the Harper government.)
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/federal-framework-suicide-prevention-progress-report-2018.html
Also, there multiple update reports on the strategy. Plus there is an Inuit-specific strategy by ITK. And many other strategies. Just waiting on the action.
Executive Summary
An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention became legislation in 2012, requiring the Government of Canada to work with partners on the development of the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention (Framework). Published in 2016, the Framework sets out the Government of Canada’s guiding principles and strategic objectives in suicide prevention. It focuses on raising awareness and reducing stigma, better connecting people to information and resources, and accelerating innovation and research to prevent suicide.
The Act requires the Government of Canada to provide Canadians with a report on progress and activities every two years. The first progress report was released in 2016.
This second report provides an update on suicide prevention initiatives underway across federal departments and agencies, including with key partners and communities. It begins with a summary of the Framework: At a Glance, presenting its vision, strategic objectives and guiding principles. It then touches on the changing landscape, which reflects the evolution of our understanding of suicide prevention, including an increased emphasis on life promotion, a holistic approach to maintain and improve mental wellness, stronger partnerships with Indigenous leadership, and increased engagement of people with lived experience. It also presents recent statistics about suicide.
This report then highlights activities from November 2016 to November 2018 that aim to:
promote mental health,
reduce stigma and raise public awareness,
connect Canadians, information and resources, and
accelerate research and innovation in suicide prevention.
The report concludes with a section on next steps going forward. The suicide prevention and life promotion activities highlighted in this report are wide ranging, but share a common thread — the need to continue to collaborate and learn from each other.
It’s not a strategy — it’s a ‘framework’. And there was no funding attached. See the CMAJ article “Federal suicide prevention framework underwhelms” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5235942/), with these comments:
Natan Obed: “The omission of an action around the creation of a national strategy is disappointing, especially considering the emphasis that Inuit have placed on a national strategy as the centrepiece for action on suicide prevention. The reasons for having a national strategy are laid out in a number of different WHO evidence-based documents, and also the success of some countries in decreasing the rate of suicide through targeted implementation of a national strategy. We have evidence that national strategies work.”
Laurence Kirmayer: the federal government will have “a very limited role of information exchange and coordination. It’s one step back from the nitty-gritty.”
“The Canadian Centre for Suicide Prevention also called for a national strategy. “A framework does not identify the necessary jurisdictional mandates or resources; responsibilities are not defined in a clear way, and there are no definitive timelines. A framework does not have the sheer weight or power of an official strategy,” the centre said in a statement.”
No more studies please , can someone really speak with an intent to prevent suicides in Nunavut, please keep your political gains aside first, we are loosing people, young adults and they are not another number in statistics.There are couple of things that public need to pay attention to the facts.
1. There were some GN positions with in Department of health was created and high salaries were paid to Mr and Mrs Suicide . They gained and one left Nunavut and the other was passed away. What was the outcome? NIL
2. An extensive study was done and produced a report. Department of Health hired someone from down south to read and interpret what was written in that report for 200,000$. That’s where these budgets goes. What was the end outcome NIL.
3. Chief Coroner ordered inquest and jury gave 46 recommendations to prevent by spending more than 350,000$ . What was the end result , with full swing created new position as Minister Responsible – Mr. Hicks and the ADM of Suicide prevention. End result ?? Was there an accountability for improvement.
4. Coroners office collects demographic information after each death by suicide and what’s been done to that data? Collecting dust because people does not know what to do with that information ?
5. Ms. Victoria Madsen comes and testify in every Coroners inquest in an official capacity’s representing Mental Health and Addictions with GN health and was there any real improvement from her end ?
All eye wash and please consider using those Federal budget to improve quality of life in remote communities for young people , provide them with guidance and groom towards life skills to gain knowledge and look for future.
Nunavut’s first Minister Responsible for Suicide Prevention was Paul Okalik. Then George Hickes. The current Minister responsible is John Main.
The GN has many reports from internal reports departmental reports, GN reports, Inuit organization reports, federal reports, Governor General reports, they all get shelved and collect dust and consultants make a killing writing these reports.
The biggest issue here is getting the GN to actually use these reports and implement the recommendations in the reports.
I don’t understand how this government can not be held accountable year after year when they refuse to do anything, now just watch year end is almost here and the departments will be scrambling to spend money, doesn’t matter what they spend it on as long as they spend money before year end.
Its pathetic how our government operates with billions of dollars each year yet they can’t accomplish very much.
I would ask Mr.Jack what did you do, when you and Caroline Anawak were doing studies on suicide prevention, you got benefits from GN and NTI, what good did you do ? Can you list them? How many suicides did you prevent? None. All you did is fight for your $$$ value and your benefits. So please do not point Your fingers at Sen. Patterson.
Dennis has done so much for the Arctic! Thank you Senator Patterson!
How many deaths by suicide have there been in each the last few years? Is the rate going up among young people, or by middle aged people, or both, or neither? Is the pattern different in Iqaluit and the three different regions? Has COVID had an effect? Has the liquor store had an effect? Can Nunatsiaq News please find out?
Are the MLAs and NTI ever briefed on how many Inuit did by suicide in Nunavut each year, by community, sex, age, method, etc.? How clear a sense do they have of what’s actually happening? If they are being briefed, why can’t those briefings be made public? I’d sure like to know.
Facts: GN has a full time SUICIDE EPIDEMIOLOGIST, a WHOLE DIVISION for suicide prevention with a dedicated full time POLICY and separate EVALUATION position. Additionally the suicide prevention division gets a boat load of money that goes out every year to communities. Are the hunting, sewing, fishing funded programs preventing suicide? Most of the other departments also fund these type of programs. The thing to ask is this the right way? Is the money being spent in a wise fashion with results? Maybe ask these specialists working for the GN in suicide prevention. What is at the foundation of people struggles…you can not stop a suicide that is resulting from child sexual abuse by family member with an on the land outing.
There have been studies. Basically, there’s not much that young Inuit men and women can do about their present situation. We’re dealing with overcrowded housing, very little income security, unsupported local industries and infrastructure and every single one of our institutions more heavily caters to the well being of southern workers at the expense of Inuit.
The only dream of having a home in the north where we are from is to conform to southern workplace cultures and expectations. And we’re very discriminated against in every field of employment available in the north.
The evidence suggests that not all Nunavummiut are at equal risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts. People who suffered childhood trauma are at much higher risk than people who didn’t.
Juutai says “we’re very discriminated against in every field of employment available in the north.”
Absolute non-sense, discrimination does happen, but favours Inuit and gives them the first opportunity at government jobs, placing many in positions they would never get if they had compete under truly equal conditions.
Here’s a problem I see, distorted thinking is rampant.
“The only dream of having a home in the north where we are from is to conform to southern workplace cultures and expectations”.
.
Well, you could dream of having a home in the north by conforming to northern workplace cultures and expectations. I think they’re called sod houses and igluit. Lots of Inuit land available to settle into the dream cultural life with no mortgage, no power, no plumbing, no oil heat, no lumber. However, I guess if you want some of those southern innovations, southern workplace expectations are what get you there.
.
The choice is there.
He’s absolutely right, but nothing is going to change as long as Ottawa maintains power over the rest of the country. Ottawa is a little bubble where the elites think they know what’s best for us, and demand that we all abide by their beliefs (regardless of which party is in power). Canada needs massive decentralization, and the people in Ottawa need to start taking their orders from the rest of Canada, instead of continuing to do what they think is best.
Canada is actually a very decentralized state.
That aside, what your comment tells me is that at some level you accept that the paternalism of the top down state is a reality you are unable to change and are unhappy with. But is there any reason you, we, need to wait on Ottawa to deal with the crisis of suicide in our communities? What is preventing the GN, or even community level organizations or individuals from having a meaningful impact on this issue?
“…he said in his speech, which he gave in Inuktitut through the Roman orthography, since he himself does not speak the language.”
What a foolish sentence. One cannot give a speech through an orthography, because a speech is oral, while an orthography is merely a writing system used to record speech or thoughts. I assume that Mr. Patterson’s speech was given in Inuktitut. Since he doesn’t speak Inuktitut, the speech was pre-written in Inuktitut, and he read it from his notes. Eastern Canadian Inuktitut has two written forms, syllabics (Qaniujaaqpait) and roman (Qaliujaaqpait), and his notes which, we are told, were written in roman orthography. That is irrelevant information. The orthography chosen has no bearing on the speech given.
I would expect better writing from Nunatsiaq News.
I was trying to make sense of that too. This isn’t even a problem of bad writing, it’s poor thinking.
Front Line health Care workers Mental Health, Wellness, Community Health , counsellors are getting paid to help,but they are not vocalizing and bringing out more programs to the communities , they are silently just sitting behind the desk.
Involve the elders and the public to bring out more programs, advertise more and be involved so the young generation are aware what kind of help is out there!
What do elder’s know that will help prevent suicide?
Fix your culture. It has nothing to do with the government.
Your wrong, it has everything to do with our governments, from education, healthcare, programs and many more, if you are privileged and take everything for granted by your governments it’s very easy for you to say something so ignorant as that.
When you look at the statistics of suicides in Nunavut you will see the majority of suicides are men, it’s a huge crisis but for whatever reason very little is being done.
Not enough support, mens groups, mental health for men are just so lacking.
How can this be? How can this continue with so little being done?
One of the highest suicide rates in the world and yet our government is failing to address it and to do anything about it.