Hon. Nancy J. Hartling: Honourable senators, I am speaking to you from the traditional, unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people in Riverview, New Brunswick.

I rise today in support of Motion No. 14 introduced by Senator Kutcher in December 2021, which proposed that the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology be authorized to conduct an in-depth study of the federal framework for suicide prevention. It would explore and examine what has transpired around suicide prevention since the framework was implemented in 2012.

The framework’s objectives were to reduce stigma and prevent suicide. What has transpired and what is the evidence? Senator Kutcher suggests that a robust scientific study using appropriate design methods and analytics is needed to measure rates of suicide reduction.

I believe that the committee is the place where all aspects of the framework could determine the effectiveness of each component and review what could help in future planning for the prevention of suicide.

I wanted to add my voice to support this motion because it’s a complex and deeply personal issue for many Canadians, including me. During my social work career of over 30 years working on mental health issues and suicide prevention, I have known many people whose family members died by suicide and who faced a most difficult and painful experience after their loss. Suicide impacts family members, but also those who work on these issues and our communities at large.

Many of the situations that I witnessed around suicide relate to youth and young adults. One particularly painful personal situation involved close friends. Joanne and her son Richard lived with my daughter Melissa and me. As single parents, Joanne and I shared space, meals and many conversations related to supporting and raising our teenage children. Richard and his mom were very close. In 2011, Joanne died of cancer. Richard was devastated, and he died by suicide in 2017. I felt so sad, as they were so close to my family.

In situations that I have known around suicide, these folks were deeply loved by their families. The mental health impacts on their families cannot be understated. I will share another tragic situation that occurred in my home province of New Brunswick last February 2021.

Lexi, a Grade 10 student, appeared to have an outgoing nature and constant smile that masked the pain she was experiencing inside. In November 2020, she became depressed and unsuccessfully attempted suicide. On February 18, 2021, while at school, she spoke to a guidance counsellor who knew about Lexi’s history and encouraged her to go to hospital to seek help because she was experiencing some depression.

Lexi went to the hospital and sat for eight hours. Later she went home feeling like a burden. Her father always believed that if she had gotten help that night, there would have been a different outcome.

While in hospital, according to the hospital record, Lexi was assessed by the triage nurse as being urgent and requiring an emergency intervention. Yet she only saw an ER physician who repeatedly asked her if she could keep safe if she went home. Lexi repeatedly answered that she could not.

Finally, after hours in hospital, Lexi replied, “Yeah, I think I can,” and was sent home with a referral.

The next day, February 19, the physician’s urgent psychiatrist referral was faxed to the Victoria Health Centre. This fax was then forward to Lexi’s assigned integrated service delivery clinician but did not result in a psychiatric referral as intended. Lexi died by suicide on February 24, 2021.

After her death, her parents were very vocal and wanted something done to prevent future tragedies. Her death sparked a public outcry and eventually led to promises by our health minister, Dorothy Shephard, to fix the province’s broken mental health care system.

A comprehensive report prepared by the New Brunswick Child & Youth Advocate was part of the review of the services. It was an in-depth report with many recommendations, but it has left me wondering: Has there been change? Has the problem been fixed or improved? I have no idea.

I am sure there are situations across Canada like this one. What are we doing? It has been a year since Lexi’s death and I am left wondering, what next? Hence why I support the Senate study, as it’s a matter of life and death.

Many people are at risk of suicide, but I believe our youth are particularly vulnerable and at risk, especially Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized youth. I believe it’s the right time for the study as proposed in Motion No. 14.

A couple of mothers I know personally find ways to cope with their grief. Mary, Tony’s mother, often posts on Facebook to remember him after almost four years since he died by suicide. Last week, she wrote:

It’s almost four years since I got the phone call. Even though there are many days I feel so sad, it seems like yesterday. I struggle even now not believing it’s true. I love you, my son.

She said:

These anniversary dates are the worst of any day. I can be in tears. My son, my first-born child, was the kind of person everybody looked up to. His friends and family treasured their relationship with him. I’m sad and I look forward to the day when we are reunited.

Mary’s grief is real and continues to be a sharp reminder of this tragedy. Another mother, Sheree Fitch, is a well-known East Coast author with a colourful, whimsical imagination. Her lyrical rhyming children’s books Mabel Murple and Toes in my Nose were inspired by her children. Sheree’s son Dustin died by suicide almost four years ago. To help her cope and understand her grief, she wrote and published her book You Won’t Always Be This Sad. The writing is raw, real and explores the depths of a mother’s love. She found healing in the creative process. She said, “I’m regathering bits of myself and that feels good after being shattered.”

Many parents who have lost their children have reached out to her after reading her book. I honour those who walked this journey, perhaps still wondering why or what they could have done differently. I honour the lives of Richard, Lexi, Tony, Dustin and Becky and the many I have not named who have died too soon.

I believe it’s imperative to undertake the study to explore, examine and evaluate and make recommendations for the future. I urge you to support this important study, as I believe it is important to many Canadians. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Wells, debate adjourned.)

[Translation]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Dalphond, seconded by the Honourable Senator Cordy:

That the Senate:

1.recall that, despite the commitment found in section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to have a fully bilingual Constitution, as of today, of the 31 enactments that make up the Canadian Constitution, 22 are official only in their English version, including almost all of the Constitution Act, 1867; and

2.call upon the government to consider, in the context of the review of the Official Languages Act, the addition of a requirement to submit, every five years, a report detailing the efforts made to comply with section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982.