Toronto mayor calls for national summit to address 'mental health crisis' playing out on streets
Toronto Mayor John Tory is calling for a national summit on mental health, saying we are seeing a “mental health crisis,” the effects of which are playing out in Toronto every day.
Speaking with CP24 Breakfast Wednesday, Tory drew a line between mental health and some of the disturbing acts of violence the city has seen recently.
“There are people who are timid about the drawing a connection between some of the incidents we're seeing and mental health. I'm not timid about that,” Tory said. “Because in the end, if you see someone push someone onto the tracks of the subway that is not known to them or a random person, you see someone -- an elderly person – get pushed out on the street and lost their life by a complete stranger, those are incidents that are evidence of some issues out there that people have with mental health.”
Tory said he has been “shocked’ by the prevalence of seemingly random acts of violence on the TTC recently, including incidents this week that saw a group of people attack two transit workers in Scarborough in a “swarming” and a young woman stabbed and seriously injured on a downtown streetcar in an apparently random incident.
He said more needs to be done to address the mental health crisis and called for the prime minister and premiers to come together to come up with better solutions.
“A lack of mental health supports undoubtedly contributes to a number of issues we are seeing in cities across the country,” Tory said in a statement. “Some of this may have been brought on by the pandemic experience, and it’s high time we took an urgent, in-depth look at this possible cause and effect.”
He pointed out that demand for psychological services in Ontario grew by 50 per cent last year and that according to the Ontario Psychological Association approximately 900,000 young people in the province are living with mental illness.
Tory said that while Toronto has attempted to respond to a wave of mental health and substance abuse issues with initiatives like the Toronto Community Crisis Services pilot, health care is ultimately the responsibility of the provincial and federal governments.
Cities, he said, are struggling to deal with the fallout of untreated mental health.
“The lack of spending on mental health – particularly as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic - is painfully clear on the streets of municipalities across the country. When people are suffering and unable to receive adequate support, frequently they are left on our streets, on our transit systems, and in our emergency rooms to fend for themselves,” Tory said.
“When the federal and provincial governments don’t fully and adequately fund mental health care, the responsibility is offloaded to ill-equipped municipalities across Canada which are without the financial resources to address this crisis – it is offloaded to our shelters, to our police services, to our transit systems, and to hospital emergency departments.”
He said confronting the mental health crisis will take the same level of determination and cooperation as was required to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in Canada three years ago with the first detected case in Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A 'tragedy that can't be measured': North Bay's forever chemical problem is also the rest of Canada's
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
opinion How to use your credit card as a powerful wealth-building tool
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Questlove was not happy with Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef: 'Nobody won the war'
While some may have been excited and/or amused by the diss-track feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the man many consider to be an elder statesman of hip-hop appears less than enthused about it.
Trump heading to Jersey Shore to rally 'mega crowd' in weekend break from hush money trial
After a long week in court, Donald Trump is heading to the Jersey Shore. And his campaign says he'll be joined by "tens of thousands" of his friends.
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
For moms-to-be, it's possible to take maternity leave without breaking the bank
Pregnancy is often an exciting and anxious time for parents-to-be. And while painting the nursery and choosing a stroller are typically on the agenda, experts say preparing financially for a maternity leave can help reduce stress later on as well.
Fine dining, at a new high. A Michelin-starred chef will take his cuisine to our upper atmosphere
Six guests are set to ascend aboard Spaceship Neptune to the stratosphere, where they will enjoy an immersive dining experience served up by Danish Michelin-starred chef Rasmus Munk.