The more work we do to break down the stigma around mental health in construction, the more we realize how woefully under-resourced mental health services are in B.C. and across the country. Government just hasn’t take this issue seriously enough.
It’s a sentiment echoed by virtually every expert – including the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Northern BC branch. From a recent MYPGNow interview:
“In the north, it is so much more difficult for folks to access in-person services and of course, online services it wouldn’t matter where you live but that in-person, one-on-one service is very difficult to have access to when you are in the north. Some of our local communities don’t have a psychiatrist that works there who is there 24/7. Even our hospitals if we look at the number of emergency rooms that are currently being shut down – we are impacted by that with our physical health but we are also impacted by that with our mental health.”
This isn’t good enough.
Premier David Eby, whose NDP have overseen mental health services for seven years as the crisis deepened, scrapped the Ministry of Mental Health in his latest cabinet announcement. Hopefully, putting it back under the Health Minister will render better results – but we remain skeptical.
Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program has helped more than 100 companies and 15,000 construction professionals better understand mental health. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
