Aylward vows to continue push for public hearings on mental health

An Opposition MLA and PC leadership candidate in P.E.I. says he won't relent on a push for public hearings on mental health services on the Island.

"I'm hearing from Island families on a daily basis," said James Aylward Tuesday. "I just had another family this morning that I heard from for the very first time — and it's continual. It's literally a crisis situation here on P.E.I., and something needs to be done." 

The government's standing committee on health and wellness, on which Aylward sits, agreed Tuesday to call on provincial health officials to answer questions about the state of mental health care. 

But Aylward wrote to the committee in May, asking for provincewide hearings in order to hear directly from Islanders struggling to access services. He renewed the request two weeks ago. 

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"As elected officials, it's incumbent upon us to get out and talk to Islanders and to hear their stories and have a better sense of what's actually happening, get a finger on the pulse of what's happening — or not happening — within services around mental health," Aylward told CBC News: Compass's Kerry Campbell.

The committee hasn't ruled out Aylward's proposal for public hearings.

Aylward said he believes Islanders would be better served by hearing Islanders' personal stories before calling on bureaucrats.

"So that when we did have the government officials, the health care officials, that are responsible for the delivery of mental health services here on P.E.I., we would be better served and better educated in knowing exactly the tough questions to ask," he said.  

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