After a week marked by multiple mental health tragedies, the union and community sectors fear Quebec’s announced $27 million in new investments in the area will end in a “saber blow in the water.”
Posted at 8:10 p.m
Quebec will invest an additional 40 million this year to improve access to mental health, homelessness and addiction services (211 million over five years), according to the budget unveiled by Treasury Secretary Eric Girard on Tuesday.
Precisely to respond to mental health problems, the amounts will reach 27 million in 2023-2024. In addition, 22 million will be invested to support young people in need and implement the recommendations of the Laurent Commission.
However, we still know little about how these new sums will be spent, emphasizes the Alliance of Specialists and Technicians in Health and Social Services (APTS).
Minister Girard’s budget prides itself on “improving support for community organizations working in health and social services” and “improving services for mental health, homelessness and addiction” in no more than detail.
“These investments are a step in the right direction, but the budget is sparse with details. We call on the government to quickly announce its colors on how these commitments will be implemented in order to really improve access to services,” laments the union’s president in a press release published late in the afternoon.
Necessity of “structuring” measures
In the current context of labor shortages, the APTS fears that these new sums will only be “a sword in the water” if they are not accompanied by “improvements at the working conditions and organization level” for those involved.
In the community sector, these new sums are seen as “welcome” but still “insufficient” to make up for the lack of resources, says the coordinator of the Regroupement des Resources Alternatives en Santé Mentale du Québec (RRASMQ). Anne Marie Boucher.
“It would be a mistake to think of intellectual activity only as service, for example in public. Acting on mental health also means investing in social housing, fighting poverty: designing policies that pay dividends and make a real difference in people’s lives,” she adds.
However, this budget contains little “material for hope” for Quebecers living in precarious conditions, says Anne-Marie Boucher. “For example, a reinvestment in AccèsLogis […]Measures to increase disposable income, social assistance and to ensure that public services meet the needs of citizens,” she says.
“Unambitious” sums
Despite the Laval, Amqui and Rosemont tragedies rocking Quebec, mental health is getting “a footnote” in Girard’s budget, Quebec Solidaire lamented. The Parti Québécois also denounced “unambitious sums”.
“It is extremely important,” defended Minister Girard, who recalled that the government had made significant investments since taking office. “Needs have increased,” he admits.
However, RRASMQ co-coordinator Anne-Marie Boucher refuses to throw stones at the minister immediately given the complexity of these files. While welcoming the new investments in the crisis centers, Ms Boucher believes that a tour of the field is essential to hear what solutions the people of the region have to offer.
“It would be illusory for a government to be able to learn all the lessons from recent dramas within a week and immediately put in place whatever is needed,” she said.
With Fanny Levesque, La Presse