First Nations suicide epidemic in northern Ontario requires immediate action

Parents are losing their children. Brothers and sisters are losing their siblings. Friends are losing friends. As a parent, the MP for the Kenora riding, and former minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, I believe this is completely unacceptable.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Health Minister Jane Philpott. Liberal MP Bob Nault and Health Minister Jane Philpott, visited Wunnimun Lake First Nation, where she announced $500,000 for the planning of a new health facility and $465,000 for Wunnumin Lake’s Choose Life Program, designed to expedite access to mental health services and supports for First Nations children and youth in NAN communities who are at risk of committing suicide. On July 24, Ms. Philpott, Ontario Health Minister, Eric Hoskins, and other Indigenous leaders will meet in Ottawa to discuss this health-care crisis.The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright and Sam Garcia

Opinion

BY LIBERAL MP ROBERT D. NAULT

July 24, 2017

KENORA, ONT.—To most parents, losing a child to suicide is unfathomable; a pain so heart-breaking that it cannot even be imagined. This pain is becoming a daily reality for families in First Nations communities in northern Ontario, most recently in Pikangikum and Nibinamik. Parents are losing thei...

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