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International Mental Health Commissions
Edited by Alan Rosen, Nicola Wright
1 Origins
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) was established in September 2007, created several months earlier by the Federal Government as a not-for-profit national corporation at arm's-length from Health Canada, its principal funder. Recommendations for the creation of such a new organization were embedded in the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology's report on mental health in Canada, entitled "Out of the Shadows At Last" ([1] Canada, Parliament, Senate, 2006). This report, the most comprehensive study of mental health in Canada for many decades, articulated what many people with lived experience of mental illness, family members, health care providers, social service agencies, and researchers already knew - the absence of an integrated system of care, the absence of a national strategy on mental health and mental illness, and the overwhelming burden of stigma and discrimination, among other findings.
2 Mandate
The vision of the MHCC is: a society that values and promotes mental health and helps people living with mental health problems and mental illness to lead meaningful and productive lives. The mission of the MHCC is: to promote mental health in Canada, to change the attitudes of Canadians toward mental health problems and mental illness, and to work with stakeholders to improve mental health services and supports.
The MHCC was given a mandate to accomplish three principal tasks over the course of its ten-year funding, with a sunset clause that would see the Commission end its functioning in 2017:
To develop a national mental health strategy (Canada was the only G8 nation that lacked one).
To develop, implement and evaluate a sustained and multi-dimensional anti-stigma, anti-discrimination campaign (Canada is far behind other nations in this regard).
To create a Knowledge Exchange Centre that facilitates the development and mobilization of evidence-informed knowledge, increases capacity, explores potential pan-Canadian synergies and opportunities for collaboration; and leverages existing best and promising practices across the country.
At the same time, the MHCC does not have a mandate to provide direct clinical service, does not control the fiscal or human resources related to clinical service, and does not monitor government performance. It also does not do direct advocacy with government.
Rather, it exists outside the...