PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor regarding Indigenous suicide prevention:
According to the Government of Canada, the Indigenous suicide rate is three times higher than the non-Indigenous suicide rate. The Indigenous youth suicide rate (ages 15-24) is currently 5-6-times higher than the general population. With 1.2 million children in Canada affected by mental health, roughly 65 percent of these children are Indigenous. The Indigenous community makes up only 5 percent of the population of Canada, approximately 1.8 million people.
Our local politicians are beginning to see the importance of the implementation of an Indigenous Mobile Crisis Unit for our Indigenous community in Niagara. I have had productive conversations about the unit with Councillor Carmen DeRose (Thorold), Mayor Mat Siscoe (St. Catharines) and Mayor Jim Diodati (Niagara Falls) all who have expressed interest in supporting the creation and implementation of the unit.
I am calling on all Niagara-area municipalities and Niagara's Indigenous community to also support the creation and implementation of the unit.
Furthermore, I am calling on the Niagara Region to produce a staff report on the subject of the unit.
It is imperative that the unit also has provincial support and I am eager to resume meetings with Ontario Health Teams (and Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs) to continue discussing funding options for the unit.
I am eager to raise the topic of the Indigenous Mobile Crisis Unit with Niagara's next Members of Provincial Parliament at the conclusion of the provincial election.
All in all, I remain hopeful that the idea of an Indigenous Mobile Crisis Unit will soon become a reality in the Niagara Region.
Steven Soos
Welland