N.W.T. MLAs call on government to take immediate action on suicide prevention

Members of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly are calling on the government to take immediate action on suicide prevention. 

A motion passed Monday in the legislature called for commitments to fund each region in the territory and allow them to decide where the money can best be spent.

It also calls on more recreational activities and subsidies for existing ones. 

The motion suggests a yearly fund of $250,000 per region to be "expedited directly to communities in suicide crises without application." 

Caitlin Cleveland, chair of the standing committee on social development, brought the motion forward. 

She told CBC News the committee is trying to remove red tape and create clear access to funds. 

"Don't make communities tell you exactly what they're going to do and fill out the paperwork to do it," she said. "Let communities simply go straight to the action piece of this."

Cleveland said the recommendation to increase recreational options is being recycled from the committee's review of the Child and Family Services Act, published March 29. 

She said that was something the committee heard repeatedly from their engagement efforts and that the committee "feel[s] the recommendations were not honoured," by the territorial government. 

Last month the N.W.T.'s chief coroner released early data on suicide rates in the territory, highlighting the upsurge of deaths by suicide that he said "alarmed us quite a bit."

Twenty-nine people in the N.W.T. died by suicide since January 2021. Eighteen of those deaths have been in the last 10 months. 

At the time, chief coroner Garth Eggenberger said he "felt it was necessary to release the figures for 2021 early so that there could be a response."

The Beaufort-Delta region has seen the most deaths this year with seven — though Eggenberger noted that not all potential suicide death investigations in 2022 have been completed and more cases could be reported. 

Jackie Jacobson is the MLA for Nunakput. He told the house he was honoured to second Cleveland's motion considering his region was hit the hardest.