MP Rota says care for mental health patients needs to be revisited

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The fire may have been simulated, but the fireside chat was real. The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce hosted the ‘State of Canada and Here at Home Breakfast’ featuring special guest was Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota. 

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After Rota’s address to the crowd at the Grande Event Centre, he and chamber president and CEO Donna Backer had a back-and-forth discussion of pressing issues. 

One focus was on the homelessness, crime and drug abuse crisis and its possible connection to mental health issues that has spilled out on to Canadian streets. 

Backer told Rota the community is “past the tipping point” regarding this situation. 

“What the business community is hoping for is that all levels of government are going to try to mitigate this issue. We are at a point where legislative changes need to be made. Whether it is the Criminal Code or the Mental Health Act,” says Backer, adding that some invoke the Canadian Charter of Rights guaranteeing personal freedoms. 

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“People say it’s their right to do things that they are doing, but when those acts infringe on other people’s rights, when do we step in and address those issues? 

“The business community does want people (in need) to be cared for, and it’s not showing a lack of compassion to want to get people help,” says Backer. 

“I don’t have a quick fix for it,” says Rota. “We used to have psychiatric hospitals; now people who are having a hard time do not have a place to go. We can give them all the money and all the support we want, but they don’t have the ability to take care of themselves. Maybe this is something that we may go back to as a community. It may not be the popular thing to do; we must look at it. If you can’t take care of yourself, we will take care of you,” says Rota, who then further reflected on the initial impact of psychiatric hospitals closing. 

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“When they first closed several years ago, I looked at it and thought the concept was good. People were going to get reintegrated in the community. (But) it’s not working,” says the Nipissing-Timiskaming MP. 

 This event was third of its type hosted the by North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce.

Backer says there has been real value in these ‘chat’ sessions.

“We people in the business community come up to us and saying they didn’t know that (regarding speech content). If this is a learning opportunity for everybody and then they engage and learn more, this is what it is all about,” says Backer. “We want our members to learn about what is going on here from the different levels of government and what they are doing in our community.”

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