Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan

By rdnewsNow.com staff

Mental Health

Alberta Liberals announce strategy for mental health and addictions

Apr 2, 2019 | 12:24 PM

Alberta Liberal leader David Khan has announced what his party is calling a bold new Alberta Liberal Strategy for Mental Health and Addictions.

“The Alberta Liberals will increase funding by 50 per cent for mental health and addictions treatment,” Khan says in a press release. “We will invest more than $600 million to give Albertans the care they need. We will walk the talk on one of the most important issues facing all Alberta.”

Khan says tens of thousands of Albertans do not have adequate mental health care and it is significantly damaging the economy, creating huge downstream healthcare costs, increasing crime and straining the province’s justice system.

“Alberta Liberals will increase spending to 9 per cent from 6 per cent on mental health and addictions,” he explains. “We will invest $150 million in new spending immediately. We will redirect $450 million in spending over four years.”

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If elected, Khan says his party would use the Valuing Mental Health Report chaired by Alberta Liberal MLA Dr. David Swann to improve and expand access to mental health services.

He claims the NDP government shelved the important document without enacting its recommendations.

“Alberta Liberals will declare the opioid crisis a public health state of emergency,” exclaims Khan. “Two Albertans still die from opioid overdoses every day. We will provide free suboxone and addictions counselling. We will expand the number of supervised injection sites. We will make the surrounding communities safe.”

Khan says an Alberta Liberal government would pressure the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs, saying it’s time to end the stigma.

“Addicts are not criminals who should be jailed, they are sick people who need treatment,” exclaims Khan. “Alberta Liberals know mental health is an important issue that impacts all of us. We will give people the important care they need. Albertans deserve it.”