Provincial mental health plan must go farther

VANCOUVER, Nov. 5 /CNW/ - Last week, before the Premier's surprise resignation, the B.C. government quietly released its new 10-year mental health plan.

The plan was more than two years late and cold comfort to those who work in areas of mental health and addictions and the clients they serve.

It's a positive sign that B.C.'s mental health plan recognizes that more emphasis needs to be placed on the determinants of good mental health, such as employment and income, education, and early childhood development.

But this government needs to do much more to invest in these determinants of health - raising the minimum wage, addressing the affordable housing shortage, developing a coordinated and accessible system of childcare, investing in community-based social services and stopping the chronic reorganization of health care workers would be a good start.

We've been alongside many other stakeholder groups for the past few years calling for the provincial government to issue a comprehensive mental health plan and what we've seen instead are more cuts.

There have been staff vacancies of up to 40 percent in the Ministry of Child and Family Development child and youth mental health services that have not been addressed and program after program has been shut down as the provincial government cut health authority budgets.

And where are the savings?

When supports for mental health and addictions are scarce, it puts strain on other resources. People with untreated mental illness and addiction often end up in hospitals and jails costing the public far more than is saved on cutting community-based programs.

But mental health should not be measured by a bottom-line approach. By investing in public and community services, governments can and should create the conditions that allow all people to live to their full potential.

With the kind of crisis we face, the government's mental health plan needs to go farther and set more ambitious targets with clear and transparent measures for accountability and oversight.

We welcome more details on the government's plans for measuring success in a genuine way and we invite them to hear from front-line workers about the challenges in the system.

Darryl Walker
BCGEU president

Darryl Walker is the president of B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU). BCGEU represents over 65,000 members province wide including thousands of workers across the continuum of mental health and addictions services in the health, community, government and criminal justice sectors.

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Darryl Walker
BCGEU president