The provincial NDP is calling northern suicide rates an epidemic.
Recent statistics have stated three-and-a-half times more people commit suicide in the Keewatin Yatthe Health Region than in the rest of the province.
In Legislature’s Question Period on Tuesday, NDP MLA Buckley Belanger said too many are being lost, and asked the government what it will take for the premier to act now.
He says in the far north, 635 per cent more youths are hospitalized for attempted suicide than in the rest of Saskatchewan
“We’re losing far too many people in northern Saskatchewan and far too many of our youth to suicide. I want – and I say it very clear – I want this government to act now,” he said.
“What will it take for the premier to do that?”
Health Minister Dustin Duncan outlined current initiatives – Currently, Keewatin Yatthe Health and Mamawetan Churchill River have suicide prevention and intervention training six times a year, he said.
He said there are other response teams in Sandy Bay and Pinehouse.
But he says suicide prevention needs efforts on multiple fronts.
“This is not just a health issue: this involves health; it involves education; social services; it involves the community,” he said in Question Period.
The NDP says efforts in mental health and addictions programming need a boost.
While Question Period is often a time for heckling, both Belanger and Duncan took a serious tone and drew from their personal lives to address suicide rates in northern Sask.
“I attend far too many funerals of family members and constituents who have lost hope and chose to end their lives. And this is heartbreaking and it needs to stop. Does the premier recognize that much more needs to be done to prevent suicides in northern Saskatchewan and when can we expect this government to finally act?” Belanger asked.
Health Minister Dustin Duncan says the impact affects people all over Saskatchewan, including himself.
“There is I think, nothing more heartbreaking, to think of an individual in our province who can no longer think of a future that includes themselves in it,” he said.
“That’s why we have embarked in a lot of work in terms of our mental health and addictions review, the work we do have in place that does put a high focus on suicide prevention.”
He says suicide risk screenings through mental health and addictions services are part of what’s being rolled out.