CBC – “M-174 National Suicide Prevention Action Plan” passed unanimously in House of Commons. M-174 establishes a “national suicide prevention action plan, including among its provisions (i) commitment to the actions and resources required to establish culturally appropriate community-based suicide prevention programs as articulated by representative organizations of the Inuit, First Nations, and Métis peoples. Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus says crises in northern Ontario First Nations prompted motion.

On May 8, 2019, parliamentarians voted unanimously in favour of a national suicide prevention action plan. The Motion M-174 calls on the Government of Canada to establish a national suicide prevention action plan, including among its provisions:

• commitment to the actions and resources required to establish culturally appropriate community-based suicide prevention programs as articulated by representative organizations of the Inuit, First Nations, and Métis peoples;
• establishment of national guidelines for best practices in suicide prevention based on evidence of effectiveness in a Canadian context;
• the creation of a national public health monitoring program for the prevention of suicide and identification of groups at elevated risk;
• creation of programs to identify, and to attempt to fill, gaps in knowledge relating to suicide and its prevention, including timely and accurate statistical data;
• development of tools to promote responsible and safe reporting of suicide and its prevention by media;
  establishment of national standards for the training of persons engaged in suicide prevention, whose contact with potentially vulnerable populations provides an opportunity to identify at-risk individuals and direct them to appropriate assessment and treatment;
• creation of a national online hub providing essential information and guides to accessing services, in English, French, selected Indigenous languages, and other languages spoken widely in Canada for suicidal individuals, their families and friends, people bereaved by a loved one’s suicide, workplaces and other stakeholders concerned with suicide prevention;
• conducting within 18 months comprehensive analyses of high-risk groups of people, and the risk factors specific to each such group:
  • the degree to which child sexual abuse and other forms of childhood abuse and neglect have an impact on suicidal behaviour,
  • the barriers to Canadians accessing appropriate and adequate health, wellness and recovery services, including substance use, addiction and bereavement services,
  • the funding arrangements required to provide the treatment, education, professional training and other supports required to prevent suicide and assist those bereaved by a loved one’s suicide,
  • the use of culturally appropriate suicide prevention activities and best practices,
  • the role that social media plays with respect to suicide and suicide prevention,
  • means to reduce stigma associated with being a consumer of mental health, bereavement and other associated services, and ways in which society can reduce access to means and methods for people to harm themselves; and,
• report to Parliament annually on preparations for and implementation of the national action plan for suicide prevention, including data on progress over the previous year, and a comprehensive statistical overview of suicide in Canada for the same year.