Cumberland MLA tables suicide prevention strategy bill
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Cumberland NDP MLA Doyle Vermette presented a bill Tuesday in the legislature calling for a provincial strategy for suicide prevention.
“It doesn’t matter where you live … we’ve had a big issue, but in northern Saskatchewan it’s a crisis,” he said. “This has been ongoing for years bringing up questions about suicide whether it’s the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), different organizations, individuals or front-line workers. They do great work with the resources front-line workers have, but it’s a struggle that impacts many people.”
Vermette believes suicide is a serious problem across Saskatchewan, adding other provinces have already introduced strategies as ways to move forward. According to a report released by the FSIN, Saskatchewan’s suicide rate is the highest in the country and rising every year with 1,895 people having committed suicide between 2005 and 2017. The report also stated First Nation commit suicide at a rate four times higher than the rest of the province with First Nations girls being 29 times higher.
With the first reading of the bill now complete, Vermette said the government should now be well aware of the situation unfolding in the province. He doesn’t know when the second reading for the bill will happened, but noted they’ll be looking to the Sask Party for support.
