Canada is going into the New Year having for the first time established legislation for suicide prevention. Bill C-300, a private member’s bill tabled by Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht, establishes an official framework for dealing with suicide. It was signed into law December 14.
The local MP first got involved with suicide prevention efforts after the publicized suicide of Ottawa university student Nadia Kajouji in 2008. A Minnesota nurse adopted a false online identity and goaded Kajouji along with dozens of others into committing suicide during online chat room conversations.
“That’s when I tabled motion M-388, which called on the government to implement changes in the criminal code that clarified that even if you chose to use the anonymity of the internet you are still liable for encouraging someone to die by suicide, so that was the first step,” he said.
After the motion was passed, Albrecht was contacted by local suicide prevention council executive director Tana Nash, who helped put the issue into perspective and called for a national strategy.
“She pointed out that in a one-week period, in three different high schools in Waterloo Region there had been three deaths by suicide, and unrelated – she said we need help.”
According to the council, suicide is one of the leading causes of death in Canada, with nearly 4,000 Canadians committing suicide each year, an average of 10 deaths per day.
Albrecht said the bill is only a part of the work that still needs to be done but sees the bill as “an important step along the way.”
The framework had to fit the profiles of high risk groups like the military – who deal with post traumatic stress disorder – aboriginal communities and middle-aged men, often the primary focuses of prevention networks.
“The one I am primarily interested in is the whole area of youth suicide where such huge potential is lost,” Albrecht said.
Prior to the bill, suicide prevention was not legislated in Canada despite calls to arms by various organizations like the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council whose members have been backing the bill since it was first tabled last year.
“I’m excited about it, I think we’ve got lots of work to do and this is one more important step along the way. I think it’s going to help us all work better together,” said council chair Rob Martin of the bill.
Martin would like to see the start of public consultations and the implementation of suicide prevention best management practices outlined in the bill. He says this is an opportunity to create more public awareness and perpetuate further collaborative efforts with other councils in Canada.
With the passage of the bill into law, the government has set a six-month limit for selecting a primary agency that will take the lead in facilitating the new framework for suicide prevention in the country. Organizations under consideration include Health Canada, the Mental Health Commission and the Public Health Commission, among others.
Albrecht said the chosen organization will oversee efforts on a national level, while giving regional organizations the tools they need: “Better, up-to-date statistics and the opportunity to share best practices across jurisdictions, so that they can take those ideas and contextualize them for their own communities.”
