Mental Health During the Pandemic
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Summary
Todd Doherty is the Special Advisor to the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada's Leader, Erin O'Toole. In this episode, Todd talks about the importance of mental health in Canada and why it's an issue that needs to be prioritized.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprint. It is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your
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host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton, Coeur of the Lakes Broccoli.
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Thank you very much for joining us. As always, great content, new content, every single Tuesday,
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1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. We would appreciate if you like, comment, subscribe, share this program,
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help us push back against the ever-moving Liberal agenda because we just know there's someone in
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your social media network that would be open to hearing the Conservative message. And we have
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such an important topic today. I think this appeals to anyone across the country, regardless of how
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you vote. It's the topic of mental health. So this is something that I think everyone is dealing with
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in some capacity. So we brought in the Special Advisor to the Leader, Todd Doherty. He's also
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the Member of Parliament for Caribou Prince George in the beautiful province of British Columbia.
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Thank you so much for coming on, Mr. Doherty. Thanks, Jamie. It's an honour to be here with you
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and as always, it's an honour to any time to be able to share a message with our Conservative
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friends. It's really important. Well, I see people behind you putting a log on the fire. So
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let's warm up and talk about mental health. Let's first of all talk about the unanimous consent you
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received in the House of Commons for your motion. We'll get you to talk a bit about it, but also
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it was a bit of a process to get that through. Yeah. So late last year, in follow-up to
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the piece of legislation that we were fortunate enough to have passed in our last session,
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C211, which made Canada the first country in the world to adopt a piece of legislation to combat
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post-traumatic stress disorder. Our next step was to do whatever we could to remove any barrier
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for those seeking help when they need it the most. And so early last year, we were
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made aware of a project to bring a national suicide prevention hotline, an easy three-digit number,
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a national suicide prevention hotline to Canada. It was called Bring 988 to Canada.
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Our US counterparts were just in their final, I guess, process of getting it to, getting it passed
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through their process. And we started the process ourselves in Ottawa to do the same, to bring 988
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to Canada. So it was a bit of a long process to do. We had to make sure that, well, we had our ducks in a row
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and we had to make sure that we had all of our colleagues across all party lines, you know, on side
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with this. You know, studies have shown whether it's 911 or even 411, when you need help, trying to
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remember an easy three-digit number is obviously much more readily accessible and easier to do than
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than a complicated 10-digit number. And in truth, Jamie, when minutes matter
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the most, we want to make sure that we are breaking down every barrier for those that are, you know,
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at that point where they want to seek help. And so December 13th of this past year, in 2020,
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all parliamentarians stood and unanimously supported bringing 988 to Canada, the motion that we had
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put before the House. And, you know, it's, we've met a number of times with the Minister of Health,
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Patty Hajdu. We have in 2021 as well, too. It still remains in her court right now. We know that the CRTC
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is adopting it or is looking at it, but it's not moving fast enough. And we know that COVID has
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exasperated and really shone the light on the mental health crisis that was in our country previously,
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but now more than ever due to increased isolation and anxiety, that we really seriously have a real mental
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health crisis on our hands and one that is going to be critical to be looked at if we're planning a
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recovery for our nation. Absolutely. I think even a quick Google search pulls up article after article.
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I just printed two off here that I see December 3rd, 2020, Canadian Mental Health Association produced
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a report co-authored by the University of British Columbia specifically on that basically saying mental
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health in Canadians is eroding. There's another one as recently as Thursday, January 14th, 2021,
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CTV news, Canadians reporting more anxiety and depression than ever before, according to a new
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poll. And it goes on and on and on. And as you said, before the pandemic, this was an issue. It's an issue
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even more so now. And I think that's why us as a party and our leader, Erin O'Toole, specifically
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added mental health to some of the top five priorities we're looking at going forward.
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Yeah, it's so important to have a true mental health plan, a mental health action plan. And I'm so
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honored that the leader chose me to be a special advisor. But moreover, that I know he's just as
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passionate as I am in terms of mental health and championing action, real action. Our leader started
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the true patriot love foundation that supports veterans and first responder families. And when
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in truth, I'm not even sure if you know this, that when I was just elected in 2015, I knew the
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background of Erin O'Toole, I knew the background of our leader, and I had approached him regarding my
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framework that I wanted to, or that I had tabled in terms of C211 and asked for his support. And he
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really helped me spearhead that through, you know, the different machinations that
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private members bill takes and helped me guide, or helped guide me through those process to get it to
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where we finally saw that piece of legislation go through. I think for some Canadians, the arrival,
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or first of all, news of a vaccine for the COVID pandemic, but also the arrival of some of our
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vaccine supply, obviously, I think, maybe a topic for another time, the procurement strategy that the
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federal government used was a horrible disaster. And we've talked to Michael Chung, Garnett Jennings,
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and many others about the many failures along the way. And there's newspaper articles after newspaper
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articles. But I think for many, that was kind of the light at the end of the tunnel, thinking the
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tunnel is getting even even shorter. But even still, our motion last week in the House of
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Commons by Michelle Rempel-Gardener and others on the Health Committee for the government,
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the federal government to come up with a plan within 20 days to show us a roadmap to reopening.
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What does that mean? Can we get rid of finally the horrible quarantine hotels that many people are
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having to deal with and disaster they are? Does that mean that if you have the vaccine, you do not have
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to quarantine? Or all this stuff, all these questions Canadians are asking, that all affects mental
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Oh, totally. Listen, the last year has been probably one of the hardest in my elected career. You have
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families that have loved ones that are stranded overseas that MPs have had to work tirelessly to
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try to repatriate. You have businesses, business owners that have gone through closure, quarantine
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closure, more quarantine measures, opening, then closing, and then possibly not even being eligible
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for any relief funds. You've got loved ones that you are unable to see. You've got seniors that are in
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seniors homes and that are not able to see their loved ones, let alone even hug a loved one.
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And then you've got children that are not able to see their friends due to schools and what have you.
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So all we were asking for last week was for the government to show Canadians what their plan was,
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no different than what we challenged the government with in the early days, what their plan was to
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secure our borders. And then what their plan was to help those businesses and those out of work
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employees from those businesses. What was their plan for that? Then we challenged the government in the
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fall for what their plan was for the vaccines that were coming online. Where was that plan? How many
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vaccines were going to be made eligible? When were Canadians going to be able to get that? And so the highs
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and lows and lows and where you build hope and then lose hope, it really plays with the mental health
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of, well, even our own mental health. Just when you think you're going to be able to help
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your constituents out and there is that light at the end of the tunnel where
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the measures are going to be lifted. And, you know, I can tell you as recently as yesterday here in BC,
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where we went under even further restrictions after having
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some lesser restrictions and COVID measures in place due to a spike in the numbers, we've had to go
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back backwards. And so the number of emails, the number of calls, the number of messages that we
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have where Canadians, where my constituents are just literally at their rope's end. And it really plays
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on you, plays on our staff even, because they're giving it all. They're working tirelessly 24-7 to
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help our constituents. And then you think of those families, you think of those school kids that are
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really facing increased isolation that aren't able to go on those play dates or see their friends. And now
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all of a sudden they've got to, you know, wear a mask all the time. And yeah, it's just, we are at an
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unprecedented time within our nation. And we really, truly need a mental health recovery plan, a mental
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health recovery action plan. And it takes leadership from at the top to work with our provincial
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counterparts, our national organizations, our grassroots organizations on delivering that.
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Yeah, I agree. Like, as an observer, I was in the House during most of the debate over that
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motion. The opposition we got from the Liberals was that, well, some of it infers in provincial
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jurisdiction or there's interference here, but that's not what the motion was asking. It was asking for
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a plan for the federal side on the federal government. And I agree with you, a lot of
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the lockdowns, it's causing mental health. I think the issues we'll see well into the future.
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We need a plan to give people hope and light at the end of the tunnel that
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normal is coming back at some point, but this is the steps we need to get to, to get to that normal.
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Those are the steps we have to take to get to that normal. And unfortunately,
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the government isn't doing their part in, in tabling a plan at all. It seems like they're
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making it up as they go, which is why we've seen so many failures along the way.
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Yeah. And, and listen, crisis management is, um, um, you know, I, I, in my previous career,
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I was involved in crisis management, crisis preparation. Um, and you know, um,
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there's always, um, a modicum of, of, uh, you know, you're, you're putting out those fires as,
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you know, when you're thrust into those crisis, uh, crises, but you have to plan ahead of time.
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You have to know that sooner or later, the worst could happen. We're in the worst situation than,
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uh, than we could possibly human humanly, uh, uh, consider, uh, even two or three years ago.
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But I was part of teams, um, in my previous career that planned for events, just like this global
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pandemic plan for bio agent events plan for major catastrophes. And that is exact. You're absolutely
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right. There has to, at one point we are over 400 days into this pandemic. So at some point you would
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have to say, um, okay, the next 180 days, what does it look like? What, what is our plan as we move
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forward? What's our forecast for vaccines? What's our forecast for, uh, rates of spread? What, you
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know, even though, uh, now information regarding variants are changing every day, you have to be
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able to work with the global, your global colleagues to be able to formulate some plan and to be able to
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communicate some plan. And I think you're seeing even our provincial counterparts get a little
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frustrated with our federal government because it's, it's like they're, they're chasing a, you know,
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uh, chasing a cloud in a storm. It's just, it's going every which way and they have no plan and
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they really are making up as they go. They keep using the excuses. Well, we're in the, in the heart
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of a global crisis and things are changing by the minute. Yes, they are. But at one point in crisis
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management, you have to get your feet underneath you. Uh, you know, my first responders that are
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listening in, uh, that are hopefully tuning into this, they'll understand that, you know,
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our firefighters understand when you arrive on a scene, it is a certain, it's a massive crisis on a,
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on a big fire, but you have to get your feet underneath you. And it's what you, you train and
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you plan for ahead of time on how you're going to attack what's coming from all sides. Um, and we just
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haven't seen it with this federal government. Yeah. The numbers from some of these, uh,
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surveys I'm seeing is quite astounding. It's, it's hard to read actually, in some cases,
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I think the, the, the main thing, I think we need to be okay. The takeaway here, it's okay to not be
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okay. I think is, and, and reach out. Although we, I think as humans are, are very social beings. We
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like the company of others. We like to be around people and socialize. And, and in some cases,
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it's not always possible. So we have to use whatever we can right now to reach out to others.
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If you're in need of help. Yeah. You know, Jamie, that's a, um, you, you've heard me say this so
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many times throughout, throughout the years is, is, um, you know, we live in such a fast paced world.
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There's always a phone call. There's always a text. There's always something that draws us away from,
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um, you know, uh, our, our attention away from, you know, focusing on what really,
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really truly matters. And that's our personal relationships. And so we, we get going a million
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miles a minute and we forget to look over across the way at our, our colleague or our,
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our family member or our neighbor, um, and, and just say, are you okay? Um, three simple words,
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are you okay? And, and then pause and listen. And those three, three simple words can really save a
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life and it's okay. It's okay. Not to be okay. You know, it's okay to have those feelings, um,
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that, uh, that you're unwell, um, that, you know, that, you know, things have become a little
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overwhelming, but what we're asking people to do is take a step back. Uh, and sometimes it's really
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hard, uh, when you are in that fog or in, you know, surrounded by those trees, you can't see the
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light and we need people to understand that there are people fighting for them, that they are loved
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and that it's okay not to be okay. And that there is help out there for them. Everything that we do,
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um, with every fiber, my, in my, uh, my body and, and every breath that I have is to fight and make
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sure that, um, those that are suffering know that there's somebody fighting for them and that, um,
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uh, we'll leave a legacy of action. We have to do that. Absolutely. Todd, I always give,
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I don't know how else to end it better than that, but I always give my guests the final word.
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So if, if you want the floor is yours, you know, Jamie, it's, um, we're in, we're in some very trying
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times and, um, we want people to have hope. We want people to hang on and, um, I'll take you back to,
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uh, the last time I saw my best friend, um, when we were 14, as you know, my best friend committed
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suicide. Um, I was the last, last person to see him and, um, I'll take you back to them. And if I
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could have one chance to speak with them again, and this is my message to those that are out there
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that are struggling is our world is a better place with you in it. We need you. We love you.
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We see you and we're there for you and we're fighting for you.
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Perfect. Thank you very much. Todd Doherty, Todd Doherty, the member of parliament for Caribou,
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Prince George in the beautiful province of British Columbia is also the special advisor to the leader
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of the official opposition, Aaron O'Toole on mental health wellness. He's doing a fantastic job. He was
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doing a fantastic job prior to COVID and, uh, he's the right person for the job as we make this one of
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the top five priorities of the conservative party of Canada going forward in a very serious topic.
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And that's why we ask you if you could to, to share this, to, to subscribe, to, to comment on
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this. It's a very serious one. Again, maybe you have someone in your network that would just like
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to hear those, those three words that Todd mentioned earlier, please reach out to them. It's, it's a very,
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very challenging time for us. And hopefully we will be back to normal very soon. And we can see each
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other and give each other a hug. And as Michelle Rempel-Garner, I think Todd Doherty said many
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times, so we don't have to say goodbye to our loved ones through an iPad. I think that's what
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we'd all like. Again, new content every single Tuesday, 1.30 PM Eastern time. Thank you very
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