Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Wag The Dog

It is not what our peaceful rally achieved in terms of a commitment for a Long Treatment Center,but it did bring our plight out in the open and brought us all together! The Successes hopefully will come.. when they realize we are not going away !!

It was a small turnout ( 100),not bad for our first attempt to gain the public & the politicians' ears & eyes to the epidemic numbers of those suffering in silence with addiction & mental health issues on PEI.

Diane Young is to be commended for having the courage to take this step,arranging this protest, with the recent loss of son to suicide. As shown by the tearful,emotional speech she gave imploring our government to act on long term treatment!!

She was followed by others ,who took to the mic,shared their families journeys, showing the gaps,absence of adequate treatment within our system.Mr.Ghiz could have saved ,we the taxpayers, a whole lot of money spent on papers,research & studies if he would just listen to the people impacted!!!

His whole thought process is system( and money) oriented..not client..and there lies the problem !! Within the whole treatment program !!

He spoke without compassion or empathy..but he spoke.He did not promise a long term rehab program, only deferred this to his new Chief mental health and addictions officer, Dr.Rhonda Matters.Dr.Matters Job is to...yep..study the problem and report her findings back to her boss,He promises he will then act accordingly to her findings..Have you ever seen the Movie "Wag The Dog" ?

It does not matter that 20 people took their lives last year due to Addiction & Mental Health issues!!
Nor does it matter how many more we will lose this year !

Well Mr.Ghiz..It matters to ME!!
It matters to many other Families pleading for help !
How Much is a Life worth these days ?






2 comments:

  1. I too attended this rally. I was impressed by all of the speakers and was glad I was wearing sunglasses so no one could see my tears. So many lives have been damaged by this disease. Diane did a fantastic job! Lennon would be proud.

    I had very little faith in Doug Currie accomplishing anything that doesn't benefit Doug Currie, but after just reading in the Guardian that he left a million dollars unspent in the addictions/mental health budget today, I now know there is no hope of this man ever seeing the light. He simply does not want to do anything. I also got a call today that a friend's daughter is in icu from drug use and is in very bad shape. Where was the help for her when she wanted to quit using? She is 17 years old.

    I am so ashamed of our provincial government. They are so out of touch with the reality of life here. I don't think last nights rally provided Ghiz or Currie with any new information they didn't already have but I do believe that it is important that we unite and present a strong voice to our government. It is also great for the public to get a real clear picture of how our elected officials deal with the cold hard truth of what life is like for a large segment of the population and continue to ignore the needs of Islanders while sitting on millions of dollars.

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    1. This breaks my heart!! And they continue to downplay the seriousness of our situation ? Yes they have heard it all before..and yes..no one listens..band aid solutions do not work !

      2 million in savings from Social Services and 1 million from Mental Health & Addictions..They should be Soooooooo ashamed to even admit to that ! My son is over 24 thus no longer meets many of what services are available. God help us all!

      We have to keep talking..screaming..whatever it takes to get action !

      We have to keep telling our stories..there are so many out there.. we have to keep up the pressure !

      My thoughts and prayers are with your friends daughter..xo

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