Achi news desk-
Three states are coming together to fight mental illness and addiction.
The primary goal of the Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario partnership is to create restorative care plans. It will be a knowledge sharing partnership as they move to a recovery focused care system.
“Saskatchewan is focused on helping people overcome addiction and live healthy, safe lives,” said Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health.
“By helping people overcome addiction, we can save lives, heal families and strengthen our communities.”
Over the past two days, ministers from Alberta, Sask., and Ontario met in Calgary for Canada’s eighth annual Recovery Capital Conference.
Alberta’s recovery model will serve as the foundation for the new partnership, with the intention of breaking down barriers and increasing access to recovery services.
“We are eager to share the Alberta Recovery Model because we believe it is the most dignified, comprehensive and compassionate approach in any jurisdiction across Canada to help people overcome their mental health challenges and recover from the deadly disease of addiction,” Alberta Mental Health and Addictions Minister Dan Williams said.
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Earlier this week, Alberta unveiled two new agencies to provide mental health and addiction services.
Recovery Alberta will be tasked with providing mental health and addiction services that are currently covered by Alberta Health Services. The province is also establishing a new Crown corporation called the Canadian Center for Recovery Excellence.
Saskatchewan has not made the same announcement but will work with Alberta and Ontario to develop new plans to treat mental health and addiction.
“The path to recovery is a lifelong journey for individuals and so when individuals walk that path, they may cross borders into neighboring states and if we have a united approach where we all focus on a recovery-oriented model of care and recovery systems. , I think that serves the people who use the systems better,” McLeod said.
The partnership comes after Saskatchewan changed its approach to addiction treatment, by eliminating funding for harm reduction services to provide drug equipment.
According to the Saskatchewan coroner’s office’s latest report on drug poisoning deaths, since the beginning of 2024 there have been 26 deaths and 87 suspected drug poisoning deaths.
The government faced heavy backlash when it decided to no longer provide drug equipment to harm reduction services.
McLeod said this new approach to fighting addiction through comprehensive recovery services will focus on treating the person and not the addict.
“We need to identify what that particular individual needs and I would say what they need is not more drugs,” he said. “What they need is support that will address the underlying trauma and they need the support that will put them on the path to recovery.”
McLeod also said the provinces’ naloxone and overdose outreach programs will help bring people into comprehensive services, and that collaborating ideas and initiatives with Alberta and Ontario will be more beneficial in treating people across all provinces.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
