By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

"crisis proportions"

MP Dreeshen talks mental health in agriculture in the House of Commons

Dec 5, 2020 | 1:52 PM

The member of parliament for Red Deer-Mountain View spoke recently in the House of Commons to highlight rising mental illness in agriculture.

Earl Dreeshen, whose own family has a strong background in farming, spoke about mental health problems in the agriculture sector reaching “crisis proportions.”

According to the Morneau Shepell Mental Health Index for October 2020, mental health in ag, forestry, fishing and hunting was eight points below its pre-pandemic benchmark, which other reports suggest may already have been at a fairly low point.

“Farmers, ranchers, producers and their families are increasingly experiencing high levels of stress, depression and even suicidal thoughts,” Dreeshen said in his speech. “In May 2019, my Conservative colleagues and I from the Standing Committee on Agriculture issued a supplementary report on this issue called Mental Health: A Priority for our Farmers.”

Since that report, he says many organizations have worked hard to increase supports for those going through tough times mentally while working in agriculture.

A "ROBUST" YEAR FOR THE TOWN

Growing and grieving: 2024 in Innisfail

55m ago

LIKELY SHEPHERD'S FINAL TERM

2024 wrap up: Success grows in Lacombe County

20h ago

Looking back

Year in Review: Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood proud of community growth

Dec 25, 2024

“Currently, the Do More Agriculture Foundation is advocating for a national-level, agriculture-specific crisis line for producers. This would be a single number reachable across Canada, providing country-wide access to mental health professionals who are trained in agriculture and who have experience relating to producers and their unique sector,” Dreeshen shares. “While similar services exist in some provinces, there is currently no unified national offering. This call is echoed by Farm Management Canada.”

Dreeshen also notes a ‘Mental Health and Agriculture’ campaign offered by the Chicken Farmers of Canada, the ‘Healthy Living Initiative’ run by 4-H Canada, and a community fund partnership the Do More Agriculture Foundation has with Farm Credit Canada. The Chicken Farmers also ran a campaign called ‘Take a Break,’ which sought to remind farmers to relax throughout the day.

A 2016 report by Professor Andria Jones-Bitton at the University of Guelph, Dreeshen notes, found that 45 per cent of 1,100 respondents had high stress, while 58 per cent were classified as having anxiety, and 35 per cent had depression.

Those figures are two to four times higher than farmers studied in the UK and Norway, Jones-Bitton writes in the report titled Farmers Need, Want Mental Health Help. She says farmers are among the most vulnerable workers in the country when it comes to mental health.

Dreeshen says the federal government has implemented mental health supports for all Canadians during the pandemic, but there haven’t been any directly aimed at the agriculture sector.

“Given that many of the stressors in the agricultural sector stem from vulnerability to external shocks, and that COVID-19 has increased uncertainty and instability for the markets for various agricultural products (as well as access to labor),” he surmises, “it would be reasonable to hypothesize that it would have had industry-specific effects on mental wellbeing.”

According to Dreeshen, a government response was requested to the AGRI Committee’s report on mental health issues in the agricultural sector last year, but one was never received before the dissolution of parliament.

Concluding his speech in the House, Dreeshen said, “Together we can all work together to tackle the tragic rise of mental health illness within Canada’s vital agriculture sector.”

For mental health resources in your area, visit albertahealthservices.ca.