Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FURSTENAU – The case for adding mental health to MSP


Last week was Mental Health Week, and Friday was Child and Youth Mental Health Day. Youth mental health is a root cause for many of the challenges that we see with the deaths from an illicit toxic drug supply. What doesn’t exist for a lot of people is access to mental health services when they need it, where they need it.

 

A few weeks ago, the Premier said he was looking for ideas from all parties in the House. We have put an idea forward about how to ensure that there is accessible mental health care for everybody in British Columbia - that is to bring psychologists under the Medical Services Plan so that they are part of the primary care network and so that nobody in B.C. has to wonder how they’re going to get access to mental health care in this province.

 

Many people who I have spoken to say that one of the biggest barriers they face is being able to afford to make an appointment with a counsellor in the moment they need it.

 

When that isn’t available to people, what we find is that people are in crisis when they finally seek care for their mental health struggles. They end up in hospitals, or in psychiatric units. They end up costing the system quite a bit more than had they had the proactive ability to be able to get the counselling when they need it and where they need it.



I will continue to advocate to ensure that every British Columbian can have immediate, no-barrier access to mental health care when they need it. 


---------------------------------------

Last week also ended with the news of leaked reports from the BC Centre for Disease Control, which show that there is a great deal of data that the government has been collecting that they have not made public. There has been a lot of media attention, including articles linked below.


In a democracy, and during a health emergency, government should not be keeping data and information from the public.  I hope to see a greater level of transparency from this government moving forward - it's essential for building and maintaining trust, and it's a key part of how we as citizens can make informed decisions.   

 

 

Sonia Furstenau … is the MLA for Cowichan Valley, and Leader of the BC Greens

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“4.5 million hectares of forest lands have burned since 2023, and the best they can do is point to a 90-hectare block being salvaged?” ~~ Ward Stamer, Kamloops-North Thompson MLA

Today, BC NDP forest Minister Ravi Parmar made this pronouncement; ‘Removing red tape has sped up permitting, allowing for more wood to be salvaged, quicker’. 4.5 million hectares of forest lands have burned since 2023, and the best they can do is point to a 90-hectare block?    ~~ BC Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer While acknowledging the NDP government has recognized improvements were needed in permitting and accessing burnt fibre in a timely fashion, the reality is, they are barely making a dent in the problem.  This government's recognition that only seven percent of pulp mill fibre came from burnt timber in 2024-25, quite simply put, is a failure. And the recent announcement, just three weeks ago, that the Crofton Pulp Mill would be permanently closing, is proof of that.     Instead of Premier David Eby’s government addressing core issues being faced by British Columbia’s forest industry, they are doing little more than manipulating the facts, ...
1 comment
Read more

A message from BC Conservative MLA Ward Stamer, and the Kamloops – North Thompson Riding Association

2025 was a busy first year. As a Caucus, we worked very hard to defeat Bills 14 and 15, legislation which allows the provincial government to move ahead without environmental assessments on renewable projects, and that also allows cabinet to build infrastructure projects without getting approval from local municipal governments. This is not acceptable to your BC Conservative caucus, and we will continue to press this government for open and transparent projects in the future.  Two things we had success in were having the first Private Members bill passed in over 40 years. The first was Jody Toors Prenatal and Post Natal Care bill, and then there was my private members Bill M217 Mandatory Dashcams in commercial vehicles (passed second reading unanimously and is heading to Committee in February). Regrettably, much of the legislation passed by the government was little more than housekeeping bills, or opportunities to strengthen the ability of Cabinet Ministers to bypass the BC legi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wildfire waste plan torched -- Forestry critic Stamer calls BC's wildfire salvage rate 'a failure'

Claims that BC is making progress salvaging wildfire-damaged timber are masking deeper problems in the forest sector, the province’s forestry critic says. Last week, BC’s Ministry of Forests said mills in the province processed more than one million cubic metres of wildfire chips in 2024-25, up from 500,000 cubic metres in 2023 and representing about seven per cent of all processed wood. Kamloops-North Thompson BC Conservative MLA Ward Stamer said those claims of progress ignore the reality that only a fraction of burned timber is being used ... CLICK HERE for the full story
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more