VICTORIA, B.C. — Today the B.C. Greens welcomed the release of A Pathway to Hope: A roadmap for making mental health and addictions care better for people in British Columbia.
A Pathway to Hope lays out the government’s 10-year vision for mental health and addictions care in B.C., emphasizing early intervention and support.
“There is a lot to celebrate in this report, and I am grateful to have been able to support the Minister in her work in this crucially important area,” said Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley. “I look forward to following this strategy’s implementation and am hopeful it will save lives and greatly improve the wellbeing of our province.”
Delivering this report is how government is fulfilling its commitment to develop a mental health and addiction strategy as part of its shared priority with the B.C. Green Party caucus and as detailed in the Confidence and Supply Agreement.
“I am particularly pleased with the focus on Indigenous lead initiatives and the emphasis on supporting children and youth. This spectrum of policies and supports recognizes that mental health and wellness begins early in life and needs to continue through our senior years.
“Following this pathway, I hope we will be able to extract mental health care from its disconnected silos and recognizes that it needs to be integrated into schools, workplaces and communities. This belongs everywhere.
“With the overdose public health emergency continuing to batter our province, there is a desperate need in all communities for access to counselling, addiction treatment, and mental health services. This is a step towards addressing the urgent situation.
“I echo the Minister’s gratitude to all of the families, front line workers, and people with lived experience with substance use or mental illness who have shared their wisdom in the hopes of making things better.”
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