Ford must help fund mental health supports — including barriers — on Burgoyne Bridge

ST. CATHARINES — NDP MPP Jennie Stevens said Niagara Regional Council’s approval of a project to build suicide prevention barriers on the Burgoyne Bridge Thursday night underscores the need for the Ford government to step in and do so much more for mental health and addictions services in St. Catharines, including helping fund the bridge barrier project.

Last night, the regional council voted in favour of building the barriers, which are expected to help keep individuals with possible mental health challenges safe. Since October, six people have taken their own lives at the bridge. Stevens recently reached out to Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek to provide support for the barriers, but received no answer.

“These barriers saves lives. There is widespread evidence to support this. But the Conservatives refuse to come to the table to help fund this life-saving initiative,” Stevens said. “The Ford government is cutting mental health and addictions services instead of enhancing them. The need to protect people’s safety, including people in crisis, and including the drivers that travel along Highway 406, is urgent.”

“The people of St. Catharines deserve a government that does its part to keep all residents safe.”

So far, the Ford government has cut $330 million in planned mental health funding, and has defunded some of the province’s existing overdose prevention sites.