N.B. took no action on most recommendations on Indigenous mental health, report says

New Brunswick's child and youth advocate has delivered a mostly failing grade to the provincial government's work on recommendations in 2021 to address mental health issues among First Nations youth.

In a report released Monday morning, Kelly Lamrock calls the government's efforts "lacklustre," concluding that it took no action on 12 of the 20 recommendations and only "somewhat implemented" the eight others.

He told reporters that the response has been "profoundly underwhelming."

Lamrock called for a "nation-to-nation" approach to the issue, including co-management by the province and First Nations governments of funding for mental health services.

"At some point one either accepts that we need a distinct process to deal with the crisis in First Nations communities or we do not," Lamrock said. "And that dividing line really animates the report. My submission respectfully to the legislature is we do, and we have not had one."

He noted that young Indigenous people are almost eight times as likely to take their own lives as other New Brunswick youth. 

"Anybody that thinks you can simply attack this problem by saying 'take the strategy for the whole province and add Aboriginal people' probably has not reflected long enough on the very unique causes and very unique challenges in First Nations communities." 

Lamrock asked government departments for an accounting of their work on the proposals submitted by a First Nations advisory council to his predecessor Norm Bossé, as part of the advocate's broader review of suicide prevention and youth mental health services.

He said the responses "do not meaningfully address the substance of the recommendations," often equating the creation of committees — or just the discussion of who might sit on committees — with concrete actions.

"In several cases it appears that authorities are providing unrelated or tangential responses as a means to avoid rejecting the recommendations," he wrote.

"This indicates both a failure of the authorities to address the issue and a failure to take accountability for their inaction."

Lamrock's report makes five new recommendations that he says are intended to "kickstart this process after three lost years," including a "nation-to-nation" agreement with First Nations for the co-management of funding for youth mental health services.

Roxanne Sappier, who co-chaired the advisory council for Bossé's report, said she was hopeful the proposals would spark movement.

"The lack of action means that our youth are suffering, that we're not meeting the needs of our families in our communities, and that has huge, huge costs," she said.