Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHES NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH COMMISSION

August 31, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

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Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you, Senator Keon, and thank you all for the opportunity to speak to you today and to make an important announcement here at your conference on mental health in Canada.

It won't come as news to anyone in this room that more and more men, women and children are becoming aware of the pervasiveness of mental health disorders.

Some blame the hectic pace of modern life, the trend to smaller and fragmented families, often separated by great distances, or the mass migration from small, stable communities to huge, impersonal cities.

The causes may be unclear, but the consequences are obvious.

We see mental illness everywhere - among the homeless on our streets.

We see it in our workplaces, among co-workers felled by stress or worse, and we see it in our families, where we become intimately acquainted with the pain and suffering it causes.

It is estimated that one in five Canadians will develop some kind of mental illness in his or her lifetime.

Nearly one million are plagued with a severe or persistent disorder, and it's now the fastest-growing category of disability insurance claims in Canada.

Despite these worrisome trends, however, there is more reason for hope than despair.

While there are still many mysteries of the human mind yet to be unravelled, we've come a long way from the primitive diagnoses and barbaric treatments of the not-so-distant past.

We now understand that mental illness is not a supernatural phenomenon or a character flaw.

We recognize it can be caused by physiological as well as environmental factors, and, most importantly, we know it can be controlled and often cured.

Many of you here today, along with countless other doctors, scientists and researchers, have contributed to these tremendous advances.

The cause has also been served by legions of compassionate people standing up for the victims of mental illness and serving as their public advocates.

Two of the most notable advocates have been the Honourable Michael Kirby and Senator Keon.

These gentlemen led the Senate Committee that laid the groundwork for today's announcement – they made the case for a comprehensive national strategy.

They showed how we can improve the ways we develop and share our knowledge of mental health issues.

They argued, eloquently and passionately, that we must reject once and for all the stigma attached to mental illness, and they proposed that a national mental health commission be created to pursue all these goals – and that's what brings me here today.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to announce that the people with me here on the stage are some of the new board members and advisory committee chairs for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

The board members were chosen from close to 500 applicants after broad public consultation. They represent the best minds in Canada's mental health field today.

In addition to their extensive professional qualifications, many have first-hand personal experience of mental illness within their families.

As a result, they have profound empathy for the mentally ill and unique insight into how we can respond to this national challenge.

The people chosen as board members and advisory committee chairs represent expertise from all parts of Canada.

Each committee will focus on specific aspects of mental health, and all will provide invaluable support for the board.

Together, they will lead a national campaign to erase the stigma attached to mental illness.

They will also serve as a national clearing house for information on the best medical practices for dealing with it.

In Budget 2007, our government established the new mental health commission as the cornerstone of our strategy to address mental health issues in Canada. The commission will improve quality of life for Canadians dealing with mental illness and their families.

It will seek to ensure Canadians in every part of the country will have access to the best possible prevention, diagnosis and treatment practices.

So that someone suffering from depression in St. John's will obtain the same quality of care as someone struggling with schizophrenia in Victoria.

Mental illness has a significant impact on all our lives.

It visits us in our homes, our workplaces and on the streets of our communities.

It costs our economy billions and our society untold grief.

In short, it's a major national public health problem, and that's why we now have a new national agency to deal with it – the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Thank you.

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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