CMHA attends pre-budget consultations

Several CMHA branches and CMHA Ontario had the opportunity to provide a mental health and addictions lens on the government’s prebudget consultations across the province in January.

Representatives including CMHA Kenora Executive Director Sara Dias, CMHA Ottawa Executive Director Tim Simboli, CMHA Windsor-Essex County CEO Claudia den Boer, CMHA Thames Valley Co-Chief Executive Officer Beth Mitchell and CMHA Ontario CEO Camille Quenneville presented to Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs and highlighted that Ontarians need greater investment in the community mental health and addictions system.

In addition to the pre-budget committee meetings, CMHA York and South Simcoe CEO Rebecca Shields participated in a roundtable hosted by MPP Michael Parsa, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, and Quenneville attended a Windsor roundtable hosted by Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfavly.

Our current recommendations include:

1) An immediate base budget increase of 8% ($24 million) for CMHA branches to help support the communities we serve provincewide

2) Maintaining community mental and health and addiction funding levels at 9% of the total health budget

3) Supporting frontline mental health and addictions workers by repealing BILL 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act (2019), which limits collective bargaining for public-sector employees to 1%.

To learn more about our pre-budget recommendations, download our pre-budget infographic.