Ontarians celebrated Mental Health Week this year by urging political parties to create lasting change and fund mental health and addictions care like physical health care.
Nearly 1,000 people from across Ontario signed the Erase the Difference petition during Mental Health Week, raising the total number of signatures to 11,300. The #erasethedifference hashtag reached nearly 313,500 users, with more than 1.3 million impressions over the course of the week.
The good news is that so far in the election campaign, political parties have made mental health and addictions care a key issue. The Liberals, NDP and Ontario PCs all recognize that massive investments are needed to improve access to mental health and addictions services.
But one-time booster shots of funding aren’t enough.
“We need to keep pushing the Erase the Difference campaign. We want to make sure that political leaders are committed to funding mental health and addictions care like physical health care in the years ahead,” said Camille Quenneville, CEO of CMHA Ontario. “We want them to see that this is a voting issue for thousands of Ontarians.”
Let your candidates know you are voting for mental health. Visit erasethedifference.ca and sign the petition today.