(Toronto, Friday, June 3, 2022) – The following is a statement from Camille Quenneville, CEO of Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division, in reaction to provincial election results.
“CMHA Ontario congratulates Premier Ford and the PC party for their election victory. Over the last four years, CMHA Ontario has developed a strong working relationship with this government. We look forward to once again offering our best advice to Premier Ford so that together we can best support Ontarians living with mental health and addiction issues
CMHA Ontario proudly supports the government’s Roadmap to Wellness and has done so since its release in March of 2020. We also look forward to passage of the most recent budget, which provides an additional $204 million for the community mental health and addiction sector, and are pleased to work with government to appropriately allocate these funds.
But we stress that significantly more investment is needed to help our sector which for decades has been underfunded. Where the acute health care system has received $132 billion since 2016, the community mental health and addictions sector has received $7 billion. CMHA Ontario will continue to advocate for additional funding for community providers across Ontario.
CMHA Ontario also calls on this government to take immediate and decisive action to address the ongoing staff shortages that are plaguing the health sector, including in community mental health and addiction care. Other pressing issues that require attention revolve around substance use and particularly the opioid crisis, which at any other point in time would be a public health crisis, and a severe lack of supportive housing that is so crucial to an individual’s recovery.
A silver lining of this campaign is that mental health and addictions was a key policy issue. We must keep the momentum going in order to help Ontarians who may be struggling.”
Over the last six weeks, CMHA Ontario’s “I choose” campaign has put the spotlight on different challenges that are having an impact on how people access care in this province.
For more information about the “I choose” campaign, visit www.ichoosemha.ca or follow #ichoosemha on social media.
About Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario is a not-for-profit, charitable organization funded by the provincial government. We work to improve the lives of all Ontarians through leadership, collaboration and continual pursuit of excellence in community-based mental health and addictions services. Our vision is a society that embraces and invests in the mental health of all people. We are a trusted advisor to government, contributing to health systems development through policy formulation and recommendations that promote positive mental health.
