To live in hope

No one, absolutely no one in Nunavut will be happy to hear that with nearly two months left before year’s end, more Nunavummiut have died by their own hands in 2003 than in any other year.

And no one will be happy to hear that five of this year’s 31 suicide deaths occurred just last month. Given all the suicide prevention activities that we’ve seen over the past two or three years in Nunavut, this news is especially dispiriting.

But that is no reason to give up. Despair is not an option. For those who value life over death, the only option is hope.

Human life may be full of pain and struggle, especially in Nunavut — but no problem is big enough to be worth dying for. Now, more than ever, every resident of Nunavut must do what they can to carry that message to their friends, neighbours and family members, and especially to the young.

Nunavut residents should take heart from the work of the nine members of Inungni Sapujjijiit, the Government of Nunavut’s task force on suicide prevention and community healing.

This group of ordinary people, representing all regions of Nunavut, have produced a report that should be required reading for all government officials, especially the large numbers of non-Inuit who work in the helping professions. That’s because their report, Our Words Must Come Back to Us, contains honest and accurate descriptions of how Inuit really feel about the services they’re getting from government. Whether they want to hear it or not, this is information that non-Inuit need to hear.

It should also be required reading for all MLAs, hamlet councillors, and all members of local committees whose work is concerned with mental health and social well-being. That’s because it contains many recommendations that only communities themselves, not the territorial government, can carry out.

The Inungni Sapujjijiit task force includes members who know how it feels to lose a loved one to suicide. And yet, they haven’t given up. If they can still find a way to hope, then so can we.

JB