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For Immediate Release

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) wants to congratulate the Mental Health Commission of Canada for releasing Canada’s first ever mental health strategy. Its release marks a significant milestone and is a culmination of many years of consultations and hard work by people across the country living with mental health problems and illnesses, individuals, families, communities, health providers and researchers, stakeholder organizations and governments.

CAMIMH has been calling for a national action plan on mental illness and mental health for over a decade. CAMIMH, helped develop the initial framework paper for the Senate Committee studying mental health care in Canada. The Senate’s report, Out of the Shadows At Last, incorporated many of the framework’s recommendations, including the development of a national strategy.

Until today, Canada was the only advanced industrial country without a national strategy or plan on mental health. As a result, people in Canada have suffered unnecessary disability and mortality from mental illness, addictions, and poor mental health, and system costs continue to rise. At least one in five Canadians each year will be affected by a mental illness and it is estimated to cost the Canadian economy $51 billion dollars annually.

“Mental illness and mental health have been neglected in Canada for far too long,” says Dr. John Higenbottam CAMIMH, Co-Chair. “The release of the strategy today is only the first step. The second step will be for governments to adequately fund and implement the strategy.”

“With national leadership and provincial partnerships it is possible to implement a coordinated national strategy for mental illness and mental health in Canada. As the fifth largest provider of health care in the country, the federal government also has the opportunity to lead by example by improving its own capacity to develop mental health policy and deliver services in areas for which it has direct responsibility such as First Nations, Inuit and Metis, National Defence, Veterans Affairs and Corrections” added Mr. Dave Gallson CAMIMH, Co-Chair.

CAMIMH strongly encourages Canadians in each region of the country, and at every level of participation and government, to review the document and chart their own plans for acting on the strategy’s recommendations. It will take leadership, sustained commitment, and co-operation of all of Canada’s stakeholders to make change happen.

About: The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda in order to improve the mental health of all Canadians and ensure that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.
For further information:

Meagan Hatch
613-237-2144, ext. 332
mhatch@cpa.ca

For Immediate Release

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health Proudly Announces this year’s Champions of Mental Health

(Ottawa, Ontario) April 20, 2012, Today, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is proud to announce the winners of the tenth annual national Champions of Mental Health Awards.

This year’s winners in each of the five categories are listed below:

Community Individual:              Michael Landsberg, TSN Broadcaster
Community Organization:          Cardinal Newman Peer Mentors, Stoney Creek, Ontario
Public Sector Individual:            Senator W. David Angus, Q.C., Ad. E.
Private Sector Individual:          Scott Chisholm, founder of the Collateral Damage Project
Researcher:                               Dr Trang Dao, psychiatric researcher and advocate for the mentally ill

“This year’s list of Champions is an outstanding group of remarkable individuals and organizations and we at CAMIMH are delighted to recognize their achievements,” said Dr. Karen Cohen, MIAW 2012 chairperson. “We had a record number of extremely strong nominees this year, making decisions difficult. This year’s Champions of Mental Health were chosen from among forty highly qualified individuals and organizations, all of whom have made very meaningful contributions to Canada’s mental health.”

“All Canadians can be proud of what our Champions have done to advance the cause of mental health in this country,” continues Cohen. “The plain reality is that one in five of us will experience a mental disorder in a given year, which means these are issues that touch the lives of the vast majority of Canadian families. CAMIMH’s Champions Awards is a flagship initiative that recognizes outstanding contributions to mental health and mental wellness in Canada.”

2012 marks the 10th anniversary of CAMIMH’s Champions Awards, held this year in Ottawa, at the Château Laurier on May 7th, during Mental Health Week. The Champions of Mental Health Awards are made possible through the generous support of our Presenting Sponsor, Bell Canada, and in addition, the generous support of RBC and Janssen. For more information, please visit http://www.miaw.ca/en/awards/overview.aspx.

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Established in 1998, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health care providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda so that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Kalene Tilson, Tel.: 613-233-8906    Email: champions@miaw.ca

Dear Mr. Mulcair,

On behalf of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH), I would like to extend sincere congratulations on being elected Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Leader of the Official Opposition.

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers.

We have been encouraged by your party’s efforts to advance mental health policy, including support for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, its pan-Canadian mental health strategy and stigma awareness initiative. We were also encouraged by New Democrats recent election promise to commit funding to implement a national Mental Health Strategy that would include suicide prevention. But we want to take this opportunity to remind you that more is needed to help the one in five Canadians who will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime.

Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability in Canada and represent a significant burden on the economy. It estimated mental illness costs the Canadian economy an estimated $51 billion annually, with a third of that attributed to lost productivity. CAMIMH is willing to provide any assistance you may require to help improve mental health services in Canada. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about the association and its activities. You may also visit our web site at www.camimh.ca

We wish you all the best in your role as Leader of the NDP.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. John Higenbottam
CAMIMH , Co-Chair

Dave Gallson
CAMIMH, Co-Chair

For Immediate Release

Reducing barriers to mental health services

OTTAWA, Ont. — The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) congratulates the Government of Canada for recognizing in its 2012 budget the importance of mental health issues.

Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability in Canada and represent a significant burden on the economy, costing an estimated $51 billion each year in health-care costs and lost productivity.

“By investing in community supports for people living with mental illness, the Government of Canada is showing that it understands the importance reducing the barriers to mental health services,” says Dr. John Higenbottam, co-chair of the CAMIMH. “It is vitally important that we look to the needs of the community when it comes to mental disorders and health promotion and that we respond to those in ways that are effective.”

The federal budget earmarked $5.2 million dollars to seed the development for the Canadian Depression Research Intervention Network (CDRIN), a network for patient-focused depression research. With this investment by government, the CDRIN will be at the leading edge of innovative research on depression, and the transfer of innovative knowledge in a way that will benefit the patient with a particular focus on suicide and post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and will also include the development of a PTSD focused anti-stigma mental health training Continuing Medical Education programs for health-care professionals.

“We are pleased that Health Canada has directed funding to support research and knowledge transfer about causes and treatments for mental disorders,” says Dave Gallson, co-chair of CAMIMH. “The simple acknowledgement that mental health is an important initiative for the federal government is encouraging. This boosts our efforts to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and will help with next steps to ensure that Canada’s children, youth, adults and seniors have access to needed services and supports.”

For more information:
Dave Gallson
Co-Chair, CAMIMH
(705) 471-6101
executive@camimh.ca

About the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda in order to improve the mental health of all Canadians and ensure that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.

Dear Minister Aglukkaq,

The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda in order to improve the mental health of all Canadians and ensure that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.

CAMIMH was pleased to hear about your recent announcement that the federal government will be funding researchers who will be reviewing the issue of improving access to mental health services for Canadian children and youth. The funding is provided through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

As you know, mental disorders are a leading cause of disability in Canada and represent a significant burden on the economy. It estimated to cost the Canadian economy $51-billion annually with a third of that attributed to productivity losses, hence investment in community supports will lead to significant reduction is these costs. Yet Canadians, in particular those in lower and middle income levels, face significant barriers when it comes to mental health services. It is vitally important that we look to the needs of the community when it comes to mental disorders and health promotion and that we respond to those in ways that are effective.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. John Higenbottam
CAMIMH , Co-Chair

Dave Gallson
CAMIMH, Co-Chair

To: Standing Committee on Health (HESA)
From: Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health

March 5, 2012—The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda in order to improve the mental health of all Canadians and ensure that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.

Every year approximately 4,000 Canadians take their own lives, meaning 10 or more people in this country will take their own life today. Yet, Canada stands alone as one of the few developed nations without a national strategy for the prevention of suicide. As such, CAMIMH supports Bill C-300, An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention.

The enactment of this Bill will provide the legislative foundation for a national suicide prevention policy. It will establish a requirement for the Government of Canada to develop a federal framework for suicide prevention in consultation with non-governmental organizations, the provinces and territories, and with relevant federal departments. CAMIMH believes that the passing of this legislation is a necessary step forward in the area of suicide prevention.

CAMIMH urges all Federal politicians to support Bill C-300 so that the bill can be enacted in law. As it is currently written Bill C300 places great emphasis on knowledge exchange. This is an essential element of a comprehensive and multifaceted national approach to suicide prevention however it should and cannot stand alone; it is one pillar on which suicide prevention rests. CAMIMH believes that a national coordinating body is essential to success that will promote collaboration and eliminating the kind of fragmentation as currently exists in Canada. A national coordinating body could report back to Parliament annually to demonstrate its progress to date.

What follows are our recommendations as possible amendments for consideration of the Standing Committee on Health to further strengthen this legislation:

1. The creation of a distinct national coordinating body for suicide prevention that

   (a) reports its progress back to parliament on an annual basis; and

   (b) adopts the Blueprint for Canadian National Suicide Prevention Strategy that was prepared by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention with other organizations and individuals.

Federal Budget 2012

Last October, the House of Commons voted in near-unanimous support for an opposition motion recognizing suicide prevention as a national public health priority and calling upon the federal government to establish and fund a national suicide prevention strategy, which among other measures would promote a comprehensive and evidence-driven approach to deal with this terrible loss of life. It is our hope that the upcoming 2012 Federal budget will include the appropriate and necessary funds to establish and fund a strategy.

In addition, it is important that the Government fund research to advance evidence-based knowledge about suicide and suicide prevention, and evaluation to determine effective practices for the prevention of suicide.

Yours truly,

Dave Gallson
Co‐Chair
CAMIMH

John Higenbottam
Co‐Chair
CAMIMH

Letter Crime Bill_jan 2012