FAMILIES AND ADVOCATES JOIN SASKATCHEWAN NDP TO DEMAND ACTION ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

Sask. Party Cuts $17 Million from Healthcare Budget Despite Youth Mental Health Emergency 

REGINA – Families, advocates, and mental health professionals gathered at the Saskatchewan Legislature today to demand urgent action from the Sask. Party government, which cut $17 million from the province’s healthcare budget despite a growing youth mental health crisis. 

“The Sask. Party is turning its back on our children,” said Betty Nippi-Albright, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. “After 18 years of neglect, this government is still refusing to invest in the future.” 

Jen Nordick shared her daughter Allyssa’s years-long struggle to access mental health care. 

“Mental health patients literally have no doctors. Imagine telling heart patients to just eat better and exercise — without any cardiologists. That’s what it feels like,” Nordick said. 

Maryellen Gibson, a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan and mental health advocate, urged the government to follow national best practices: 

“We should be investing 12 per cent of our healthcare budget in mental health, as recommended by the Canadian Mental Health Association. That means real funding for prevention and treatment — not cuts.” 

The Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth has declared the youth mental health situation a crisis.  

Only 48 per cent of youth with emerging mental health needs are accessing care—far below the national average of 61 per cent.  

Saskatchewan also faces one of the lowest psychiatrist-to-population ratios in Canada, with only 7.4 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. 

-30- 

 

Latest posts

Retail Sales Growth In Saskatchewan Dead-Last, Financial Anxiety For Consumers Highest In Canada 
SASKATOON - Carla Beck’s team is standing with a Saskatoon small business owner, calling out Scott Moe for refusing to provide any relief despite sky-high costs, which will only be made worse by new tariffs.  

Scott Moe’s Minister Brushed Off Changes Last Week, Said Health Authority Could Have Communicated Better 
WOLSELEY — A mother from Wolseley is speaking out about an abrupt and harmful change to pediatric diabetic care in Regina that she says has disrupted care for her family and made an already difficult situation even harder to navigate. 

Deleted Staff Video Shows Sask. Party’s Extravagant, Out-of-Touch ‘Day in the Life’ 
REGINA — Carla Beck’s Saskatchewan NDP is demanding answers after a Sask. Party MLA spent the day hopscotching Saskatchewan aboard a private jet — an extravagant “day in the life” documented by his own staff person in a since-deleted video. 

Sask. Party Continues To Play Political Games While Trump's Tariffs Damage Saskatchewan Industry and Jobs in Moose Jaw 
MOOSE JAW – Carla Beck's team is calling on Scott Moe yet again to cancel his tee times, stop working on his summertime tan and get back to work addressing the serious harm being caused to hardworking Saskatchewan people amid the escalating trade war with Donald Trump. 

Share this post