Budget 2019: An Opportunity to Move Upstream
2018 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services
This submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services makes the case for two key areas investment in Budget 2019: supporting the services we know will keep people mentally well and support their recovery from illness, and ensuring access to coordinated mental health and addiction services before people experience a health crisis.
Poverty Reduction Strategy Submission
2018 submission to BC’s poverty reduction consultation
Poverty, mental health and substance have a complicated relationship: they affect and reinforce each other. Economic security is crucial to mental health and well-being. An adequate standard of living is an important part of the recovery process for those coping with mental – or substance use-related – illness. In this submission, CMHA BC makes recommendations to preserve the dignity and security of people with mental health or substance use-related problems, and those living in poverty.
Re-establishing the British Columbia Human Rights Commission: strengthening the rights of people with mental health and substance use problems
2017 submission to Parliamentary Secretary Ravi Kahlon in response to the consultation on re-establishing the BC Human Rights Commission
CMHA BC recommends the commission’s function and mandate prioritize (1) preventive and responsive education that reduces stigma and supports resolving situations of discrimination early and in a non-adversarial manner; and (2) the power to research, monitor, and take action to eliminate systemic inequality in BC. Finally, CMHA BC recommends that BC’s human rights system provide adequate legal information, advice and representation to those who experience discrimination.
Regulating recreational cannabis in BC: an approach that minimizes health and social harms
2017 submission in response to BC Cannabis Regulation Engagement
CMHA BC recommends that BC take an approach to regulating recreational cannabis that minimizes any health and social harms related to its use. Such an approach should include
robust public education based on evidence and not myths that perpetuate stigmatization connected to substance use. It should also ensure that those with problematic cannabis use (or underlying conditions for which they use cannabis to self-medicate) can access services that support their wellbeing without stigma. Finally, such an approach should recognize the differential impacts of criminalization on marginalized communities. CMHA BC’s recommendations on specific issues related to the provincial regulation of recreational cannabis are set out below.
How Can We Enhance the Effectiveness of Addiction Recovery Programs?
2016 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Health
CMHA BC’s submission to the Select Standing Committee on Health is in response to the urgent need to improve our system of care and provide effective addiction recovery programs to British Columbians. In this submission, we present five key recommendations to support the implementation of recovery programs, including: formally and fully recognizing addiction as a chronic, treatable disease under BC’s health system; strengthening the provision of addiction care in the primary care setting; and expanding coverage for addiction treatment.
Budget 2017: An opportunity for bold leadership in mental health and addictions care
2016 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services
This submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services makes a case for investment in the mental health and well-being of British Columbians. We look at what a B4Stage4 approach could look like and make four key recommendations to help spend smarter with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
Community-based Support for Mental Health and Substance Use Care
2015 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services
In keeping with our past submissions to the provincial government’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services for its annual budget consultation process, we hope this submission can provide useful input to help ensure mental health and substance use receive a wise and fair allocation of provincial healthcare spending. In this submission, we highlight four priority areas for improved investment in BC: community-based mental health and substance use care, housing, income supports, and child and youth mental health and substance use.
Making a Difference Together: Realizing the vision of mental health for all
2015 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth
CMHA BC’s submission highlights the successes of the Confident Parents: Thriving Kids parent training program in providing cost-effective support to families, and its alignment with several identified government priorities. The submission provides recommendations to invest further in the program in order to ensure ongoing support to families, as well as program evaluation activities and closer integration into child and you mental health, education, child welfare, and health systems.
Child and Youth Mental Health in BC
2014 submission to the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth
CMHA BC’s written submission is in response to a review of issues related to child and youth mental health conducted by the BC Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth. The submission outlines what CMHA BC thinks the government can do to ensure mental health for all children and youth. It draws from a number of resources throughout the submission, including CMHA BC’s history of advocacy on this issue, the local experiences of CMHA branches, youth, the work of allied organizations (e.g. YoungMinds in the UK), and key reports including those produced by the BC. Representative for Children and Youth. The executive summary includes an articulation of CMHA BC’s vision of child and youth mental health in BC and CMHA BC’s take on the recommendations that can help us realize this vision in the near future.
BC disability consultation submissions
On December 3, 2013, the BC Government launched a province-wide consultation process designed to better understand how government, businesses, and communities can increase accessibility and decrease barriers for people living with disabilities. CMHA BC responded with two submissions:
- What would it take to make BC the most progressive jurisdiction for people living with disabilities? A submission of the Disability Without Poverty Network
- Disability White Paper Consultation 2014 – Ensuring mental health and addictions are part of the conversation A submission on behalf of CMHA BC and CMHA Vancouver-Burnaby