Celebrating a win for mental health

A Manitoba PC MLA is celebrating as the province honours the first ever Men’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

Running from June 9 to June 15 (Father’s Day), the week is meant to shine light on a major issue, reduce stigma and show men and boys they don’t have to suffer in silence according to Dawson Trail MLA Bob Lagasse, who introduced the bill in May 2024.

“It’s an opportunity to challenge outdated perceptions that discourage men from seeking help and expressing their vulnerabilities,” he said.

Lagasse has been open about his own mental health journey and saw his bill receive royal assent on Nov. 7.

“As a father and grandfather, my journey with depression and ADHD has shown me the importance of open dialogues about mental wellness,” he said in the Monday press release.

Lagasse said Manitoba has among the highest mental health needs and the highest rates of suicide of any province. Across Canada, men account for nearly 75 percent of deaths by suicide.

PC leader Obby Khan said it’s not unmanly to ask for help.

“We often feel like we have to be invincible for our kids, for our families,” he said. “But mental health challenges are perfectly human, and I’m thankful for Bob’s work to foster genuine conversations on this topic.”

The province did not acknowledge the week with a press release, choosing to focus instead on mental health and addiction supports for youth by announcing $400,000 to expand the Huddle initiative in Portage, a program which provides integrated mental health, addiction and overall wellness services to youth ages 12 to 29. The new site will be co-located with Youth Connect programming which is already being offered.

The province spends more than $2.4 million annually to support six Huddle sites in Winnipeg, Selkirk and Brandon and more than $1 million to support Youth Connect sites in Swan Valley, Portage, Selkirk, Winnipeg and The Pas.

Neither of those programs are offered in the Southeast.