STILL WAITING FOR $875M IN MENTAL HEALTH SPENDING

   It was a marquee promise of the Trudeau Liberals’ last election platform: $4.5 billion over five years for a new mental health transfer to the provinces and territories.
   While on the hustings in August 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this brand new transfer was needed “because mental health should be a priority.”
   But despite the sense of urgency in Trudeau’s remarks last year, no money has yet materialized for this new Canada mental health transfer, including an initial $875 million that was supposed to have been spent or budgeted by now, according to the Liberal party’s 2021 election platform.
   Pandemic lockdowns and anxieties have only exacerbated a system already in crisis, Kennell said. For example, CMHA centres across the country have been seeing an increase in parents seeking help for their children and teens who have been out of school for prolonged durations now experiencing eating disorders, increased anxiety and social disconnection, she said.