You can also download and print this petition here.
MPP Bhutila Karpoche's bill, Right to Timely Mental Health and Addiction Care for Children and Youth Act, seeks to cap wait times for children and youth seeking mental health and addiction services at 30 days.
TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO:
WHEREAS Doug Ford has announced a $335 million per year funding cut to mental health care and services;
WHEREAS an estimated 12,000 children are waiting up to 18 months for mental health care, and there are 63 per cent more children in the ER for mental health issues than there were in 2006;
WHEREAS a cut to already-threadbare mental health funding will mean longer waits for care and fewer services – which can result in mental health conditions being exacerbated, and more people living with mental illness spiralling into crisis;
WHEREAS front-line care workers and first responders are doing the best they can, but coping with a shortage of resources.
THEREFORE WE THE UNDERSIGNED, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows: To reverse Doug Ford’s $330 million per year funding cut to Ontario’s mental health services, and pass MPP Bhutila Karpoche’s proposed bill, the Right to Timely Mental Health and Addiction Care for Children and Youth Act, 2018”.