By Canadian Press

People committing suicide because of long wait for help, N.S. Tories say

May 8, 2017 | 3:15 AM

HALIFAX — The Progressive Conservatives committed $40 million to mental health services in Nova Scotia on Monday, saying the Liberals have failed to address a deepening crisis that is seeing people commit suicide as they wait up to a year to get emergency psychiatric care.

Leader Jamie Baillie cited the case of a Cape Breton woman whose son was placed on a waiting list after seeking help at an emergency room because he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

He committed suicide while he waited, Baillie said.

“The wait time for mental health services is 354 days,” Baillie said. “Their lives are literally at risk and they wait a year and we lose some of them while they wait. Well, no more.”

Laurel Walker, a mental health advocate who attended the news conference with Baillie, said she went to an emergency room with a suicidal client several years ago and was told by a psychiatric nurse that she would have to look into community resources to get care. 

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The woman was told she wouldn’t be admitted at the hospital, Walker said. A short time later, she said, the woman killed herself.

“I wish I could say this was just a rare occurrence — going to seek help and not being connected to it, but in our province from Yarmouth to Sydney this is happening everyday,” she said.

Baillie said the $39.7 million over four years would be spent on in-school mental health services, emergency centres for people suffering from mental health crises, increasing the number of mental health courts and creating a mental health research institute

Baillie said he would also create a $250 tax rebate for people who rely on a psychiatric service dog, if his party takes power May 30.

He couldn’t say where the client-focused centres would be located, but he said his government would consult with mental health experts to determine where they should be situated. He said they could be stand-alone units or in hospitals that would make sure people were properly triaged.

Students would also have access to mental health nurses in their schools, he said. Teachers and students would also be taught to recognize signs of mental health issues, he said.

“By ensuring we have mental health resources in every school, we directly get at the most urgent crisis, which is adolescent mental health,” Baillie said.

John Wesley Chisholm, the Progressive Conservative candidate for Halifax Chebucto, became emotional during the announcement and said he himself had experience with mental health crises.

“I’ve done that wait in the ER with friends and family and I know how it feels,” he said.

The Liberals have said over the next four years they would spend an additional $34 million on mental health and hire more than 100 mental-health professionals and support staff through collaborative care centres and at schools.

The NDP, meanwhile, promised Monday to expand dental care coverage for children under 18.

Health care is becoming a dominant issue in the provincial campaign, with doctors holding a rally Sunday in Sydney Mines to highlight physician shortages and fears of a hospital closure.

Alison Auld, The Canadian Press