Blog Archives

First Annual General Convention

3/20/2021

On April 10th, the Union will hold its first annual general convention to encourage youth participation in policymaking, recognize the work of active high school students, inform students of varying issues (ranging from climate change to treatment of indigenous people) and to get the gears turning for communication between students and activists/government members and other stakeholders.

To accomplish these goals, the Unions has devised numerous activities including a speakers series with Members of Parliament, Trustees, activists and others, a networking session to find like-minded peers and talk about issues with experts, a Q&A session brought to you by the Social Issues Committee about the Water Crisis in Indigenous Communities, an awards ceremony to recognize student excellence and more.
Join us to learn, grow and become more active in your community. The convention will be 4 to 6 hours long but you can just join us for the parts that you find interesting. A full agenda will be posted soon.

To sign up or for more information, check out the link below. We hope to see you soon.

Mental Healthcare in Ontario

3/7/2021

By Faiz Jan, Amy Nguyen, Parnia Zahraei, Mariam El Sahhar and Gareth Dunbar

This report evaluates the status and need for mental healthcare in Ontario and in Canada and assesses the viability of certain policy that could be implemented to solve the issues presented. The investigation uses data collected from external resources along with a study conducted by the Union to come to a conclusion on practical reforms, some old and some new, about the problem at hand.

Every year, Canadians spend $6.3 billion in out-of-pocket expenses and 45.8% of students have said that they have needed access to mental healthcare but were unable to. It is vital that the issue of mental wellbeing is taken seriously and treated as a reasonable medical treatment under Ontario and Canadian Law. This report evaluates the reasons why mental healthcare subsidization is a necessity for students and citizens and the benefits it brings both in health and in economics.

The report identifies 4 steps that should be taken to tackle the numerous issues surrounding the mental wellness of individuals and students.

All psychotherapy, mental health medications, psychosocial treatments and brain stimulation therapies should be covered by Canadian healthcare systems. Total costs for the implementation of this are estimated to be $0.90 per person.
Local Governments ought to offer free support group activities in their cities, lead by mental healthcare professionals, with 1 group for every 100,000 people.
The Federal Government should devote at least $1 billion in order to train mental health professionals across the country and to mandate training for peace officers, teachers and other healthcare professionals in a curriculum prepared by mental health experts.
There should be mandated annual or bi-annual mental health checkups (psychotherapy sessions) for students from the ages of 12 - 21 to reduce stigma by making mental healthcare commonplace and giving individuals a better understanding of the tools available in mental healthcare systems.

Read Here

First Annual General Convention

Mental Healthcare in Ontario

Archives

Topics