Most of us have been impacted in some way or another by losing a loved one to suicide or homicide. While every death is tragic, it is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child or youth. Earlier this month, a special report by the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) investigating the lives of 45 Manitoba boys between the ages of 12-17 who died by suicide or homicide in the last decade made headlines and I want to draw more attention to its findings.
In its report, MACY found that 82% of the youth who died were Indigenous, and 49% lived in northern Manitoba. The risk factors for dying by suicide or homicide identified in the report are living in poverty; experiencing racism and discrimination; witnessing caregiver substance use and intimate partner violence between adults; involvement with the justice system; poor attendance in school; problematic substance use, and gang involvement. This does not come as a surprise to residents of The Pas-Kameesak, where we have been sounding the alarm about the challenges our children and youth face for decades.
All of the boys included in MACY’s report had some form of child welfare involvement. We know that often times, the child-welfare system has continued the assimilation that the residential school system started, and this is so evident when we look at the deaths of these overwhelmingly Indigenous young men in Manitoba. Like the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, I have been drawing attention to the need to provide adequate resources to Indigenous communities and child welfare organizations, support Indigenous families remaining together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments. When it comes to taking these steps, the PC government has responded with much talk and little action.
Another urgent area in which the PC government has been failing our youth is in improving and meaningfully investing in the youth mental health and addiction systems. Of all the boys who died by suicide and homicide, 76% had problematic substance use and 49% were hospitalized for a mental health concern. In light of these findings, I echo the words of Ainsley Krone, the Acting Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, who stated that “My office has 13 open and outstanding recommendations previously made to the provincial government to address known gaps in youth mental health and addiction services. I continue to call on the Manitoba government to expand the availability of these services immediately, in order to prevent the possibility of future losses of children and youth.”
Our children and youth deserve better, and I will continue to call the government out on their lack of action and urgency when it comes to protecting them.
Contact my office anytime at Amanda.Lathlin@yourmanitoba.ca or 1-204-623-2034. Kinanaskomitin.
