Summary:
The 2019 federal budget committed to support the construction and ongoing operation of a mental health and substance abuse treatment facility in Nunavut.
The Call to Action:
We call upon the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Aboriginal healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools, and to ensure that the funding of healing centres in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories is a priority.
Analysis:
The 2019 federal budget committed to support the construction and ongoing operation of a mental health and substance abuse treatment facility in Nunavut, together with contributions from the Government of Nunavut and Inuit partners.
Currently, there are no such facilities in Nunavut and most seeking treatment need to travel to the Mamisarvik Healing Centre in Ottawa, the closest Inuit-specific treatment centre.
In 2019, the new Nunavut Recovery Centre’s executive director estimated it would open in Iqaluit in about five years.
An on-the-land Indigenous healing camp opened in Yellowknife in May 2018. However, it operates independently of government-funded health care, funded largely through a $1 million award from the Arctic Inspiration Prize.
In October 2017, the federal government launched the national toll-free First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness help line. Counselling is available in English and French and by request in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.
The hotline was launched seven months after the remote Ontario Cree community of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency, after being overwhelmed with suicides and suicide attempts. At the time, Health Canada responded to the crisis by approving the funding to house two permanent mental health workers but the positions were not filled due to a shortage of adequate housing.