Mental health commission urged.Canada is the only developed country without a national strategy for mental health, a report of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs points out. One-fifth of the population will experience a mental illness at some point, they claim. The Committee proposes the creation of a permanent Canadian Mental Health Commission, a national mental health strategy, to coordinate provincial and federal programs and to allocate new funds to the system. It also calls for a $5.36 billion Mental Health Transition Fund to assist the provincial governments in developing their mental health and addiction treatment programs. The committee has a novel approach to raising these funds--an excise tax Excise Tax 1. An indirect tax charged on the sale of a particular good. 2. A penalty tax applied to ineligible transactions in retirement accounts. This penalty is assessed by and paid to the IRS. Notes: 1. of five cents on each bottle of liquor and glass of an alcoholic beverage alcoholic beverage Any fermented liquor, such as wine, beer, or distilled liquor, that contains ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, as an intoxicating agent. When an alcoholic beverage is ingested, the alcohol is rapidly absorbed in the stomach and intestines because it does not sold. Citing the Australian experience with a similar tax, they believe that the extra cost on alcoholic beverages
The committee hopes that in addition to helping fund its approach, the added cost to alcoholic beverages could mean people would drink lower-alcohol products. The Committee report offers 119 recommendations for dealing with mental health issues, aimed at bringing together a highly fragmented system across the country. Among the recommendations is a call for 57,000 affordable housing units for people living with mental illness. The committee received positive responses from most mental organizations and professional groups in Canada. The Report on Mental Health: Out of the Shadows at Last is the result of the Committee's work for three years. Members of the Committee are: Michael J. L. Kirby Dr. Michael J. L. Kirby, Ph.D, MA, B.Sc, (born August 5, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He sat in the Canadian Senate as a Liberal representing Nova Scotia. Born in Montreal, Kirby earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Mathematics from Dalhousie University and , Chair, Wilbert Joseph Keon, Deputy Chair, Catherine S. Callbeck, Andree Champagne, Ethel M. Cochrane, Joan Cook Joan Cook (born October 6, 1934 in English Harbour West, Newfoundland) is a Canadian Senator for Newfoundland and Labrador. In her working life, Cook was, variously, a businesswoman who served as vice-president of her family's automobile dealership, Cook and Jones Motors, an , Jane Mary Cordy, Art Eggleton Arthur (Art) C. Eggleton, PC (born September 29, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and Mayor of Toronto, and is currently a Senator representing Ontario. Eggleton, an accountant by profession, was first elected to Toronto city council in 1969. , Joyce Fairbairn Joyce Fairbairn, PC , BA , BJ (born November 6 1939 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian Senator and was the first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate. , J. Michael Forrestall, Aurelien Gill, Marjory LeBreton, Viola Leger (retired), Yves Morin (retired), Lucie Pepin, Brenda Robertson (retired) and Marilyn Trenholme. www.parl.gc.ca |
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