Q+A| Governor General calls on Canadians to treat mental health seriously

Governor General Mary Simon believes mental health isn't being treated with the holistic approach it requires. 

She's in Iqaluit for the final leg of her mental health and wellness tour, where local organizations have shared stories about traditional crafts and knowledge, and how those tie into healthy lifestyles.

Her visit comes just weeks after the Nunavut Government re-affirmed suicide as a crisis in the territory. Simon is calling on all Canadians to seriously look at the way mental health is treated across the country.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why is pushing for more efforts in the mental health space important to you? 

I've been working on advocating for mental health for many years, and so when I was appointed as Governor General four years ago, I decided that I wanted to keep my work going in that area. We've been doing listening and learning work over the last two years across the country, both in non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities and even cities, and I always felt that the health sector needed to pay more attention to mental health of Canadians and the effort to increase support. I think it is something that, as a country, we need to look at seriously.

We are here in the context of Nunavut declaring a suicide crisis again. How would you describe the way we in Canada as a whole treat the conversation around suicide prevention?

I think it also clearly touches on our mental wellness. The mind and body are so connected, we often talk about our bodies in separate ways. But in Inuit culture, the two are clearly linked. The concept of both mind and body was something that elders taught the younger generation. So I think that idea needs to be discussed more across the country, to see how we can have a better balance [of] both physical and mental health.

How many people do you know who have been affected by suicide?

I know so many people in the Arctic who have been affected. My own family has been badly affected by suicides and I know so many people across the North and across the country as well. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we don't have a support system that will address these crises that are going on. The support system is critical on a one-on-one basis because whoever is going through a mental health crisis requires attention and an individual who is trained to do that kind of work. Then you can move away from that crisis and start talking about what's going on. And over time, the person can get much better. 

What's the shift in the conversation around suicide that you would like to see?

Suicide is a symptom of a much larger issue. The state of people's mind and the intergenerational trauma that is experienced by Inuit is something that is carried over through generations. I think when we start to see a real decline in suicides, that's when I think we can say that we as a country are dealing with that issue in a way that allows us to see this whole phenomenon of suicide epidemics or suicide crisis situations in a way that is more balanced with our other health issues. We're not there.

It requires a lot more work and discussion, and I'm just part of that process and I've been meeting with a lot of organizations in Iqaluit that are working in different fields related to mental health. So I think the more we work together, the more aware we are going to be in terms of what's available out there for us. Sometimes people don't know that there's help available. That information is very necessary, especially in the younger generations where they use a lot of social media. I think these things do take time, but they are evolving. We can use social media in a good way, beyond the people who have a lot of negative comments about social media. You can also use that in a good way too.