Victoria – Abbotsford resident Shirley Wilson is starting the new year on a journey without her son, Jacob. Jacob suffered a traumatic brain injury that eventually led to his death by toxic drug poisoning in 2021.
Shirley Wilson is now part of a growing grassroots movement committed to enhancing care and supports for brain injury patients and their families.
“Coordinated brain injury care and supports are desperately needed, and a national strategy is necessary," says Shirley.
Shirley has joined the 125 Days to Say Yes Campaign to improve care and support for people with brain injuries by calling on the federal government to implement a national strategy for brain injury.
From January to December 2024, brain injury survivors, family members, caregivers, brain injury associations, researchers and other stakeholders will be sending letters to the federal Minister of Health and other members of parliament asking for a national strategy for brain injury. The 125 days represents the 125 days the House of Commons is scheduled to sit this year.
“The current state of brain injury services and supports across the country is fragmented and chronically underfunded,” says Janelle Breese Biagioni, CEO of the CGB Centre for Traumatic Life Losses and Community Lead with the B.C. Consensus on Brain Injury. “Even though provinces are meeting health care criteria, there is no coordinated brain injury strategy.” A national strategy is already on the federal government’s radar. On June 2, 2022, in consultation with the CGB Centre for Traumatic Life Losses, Cowichan Brain Injury Society, Brain Injury Canada and associations Canada-wide, Alistair MacGregor, MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, introduced private members Bill C-277 to establish a national strategy for brain injury in Canada.
In part, Bill C-277 states that “The Minister of Health must, in consultation with representatives of the provincial governments responsible for health, Indigenous groups and relevant stakeholders, develop a national strategy to support and improve brain injury awareness, prevention and treatment as well as the rehabilitation and recovery of persons living with a brain injury.”
“From concussion to stroke to severe traumatic brain injuries, the chronic nature of many brain injuries is often the root cause of challenges such as mental health, addictions, unemployment and homelessness.” says Michelle McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, Brain Injury Canada. “A national strategy will help to improve awareness, prevention and treatment as well as the rehabilitation and recovery outcomes of individuals and families living with the effects of brain injury.”
Researchers believe a national strategy will increase awareness and education around brain injury, as well as reduce the stigma that comes with it. “We’ve heard from people who have
brain injuries from toxic drug poisonings, from intimate partner violence and through other trauma, and in many cases, their injuries are underdiagnosed or undiagnosed,” Dr. Mauricio
Garcia-Barrera, Associate Professor at UVic and Principal Investigator on the BC Consensus on Brain Injury. Another researcher with the project, Cole Kennedy, is working with Dr. Garcia
Barrera to compile evidence on innovative brain injury treatments into an interactive tool that can be used to inform healthcare policy making and improve clinical care. “Jacob struggled to find the right care after his brain injury,” says Shirley Wilson. “I’m embarking on this journey on his behalf and for all other brain injury survivors and their families. Please join me. Together, we can make a difference.”
Get Involved
Be a voice for change! Join the movement for a national strategy for brain injury by sending letters to policy makers, contributing to the call for improved awareness, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation for individuals and families impacted by brain injuries. Downloadable resources can be found on the 125 Days to Say Yes Campaign website.
BC Consensus on Brain Injury – Research study on the intersections of Brain Injury, Mental
Health, & Addictions (UVic, UBC, CGB Centre Initiative)
Brain Injury Canada
Invitation to Survivors, Family Members, and Caregivers - Brainstreams
Contact:
Janelle Breese Biagioni, Community Lead, BC Consensus on Brain Injury/National Strategy on Brain Injury, CEO CGB Centre for Traumatic Life Losses, Executive Director, BC Brain Injury Association [email protected] or [email protected]
(250) 812-2962
Michelle McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, Brain Injury Canada
(613) 762-1222
Cole Kennedy, Doctoral Clinical Neuropsychology Student, University of Victoria, Graduate
Student Research Lead, BC Consensus on Brain Injury
(250) 472-4940
I want to bring to your attention an important e-petition I sponsored in support of recreational fishing in Port Renfrew. It was initiated by Chris Tucker, President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, and it was published on April 10th. It is open for signatures until May 10th.
Closures by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), without notices, threaten over 100 small businesses and the livelihoods of the owners and employees who run them. DFO has failed to provide credible data to justify the closures, leaving the local economies of many communities severely impacted.
E-petition e-4919 advocates for a shift away from arbitrary and punitive regulations imposed by DFO, moving instead to evidence-based policies that protect the economic stability of small coastal communities like Port Renfrew.
I have been a supporting the recreational fishing community and bringing their concerns to Ottawa for many years. In 2021, a cross-party representation of BC MPs and I wrote a letter to previous Minister Jordan in support of marked selective Chinook fishery opportunities that DFO is considering for the Pacific region. In 2023 and 2024 NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron and I wrote to Ministers Murray and Lebouthillier regarding the closing of Tidal Area 20 in efforts to protect the Southern Resident Killer Whale and wild pacific salmon.
Together, with your support and advocacy, we have a chance, through e-petition 4919, to tell the Government of Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that protecting our recreational fishing in Port Renfrew should be a key goal. I hope you’ll join me in signing and sharing this petition.
My colleague MP Lisa-Marie Barron and I wrote to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister on behalf of several Vancouver Island coastal communities, including Port Renfrew, regarding protection efforts for vital species such as the Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) and wild pacific salmon and the closure of Tidal Area 20 by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Those out on the water have firsthand knowledge of the marine ecosystems that surround Vancouver Island, yet they are largely being left out in DFO`s decision-making process.
This potential closure will have detrimental impacts to many who rely on sport fishing for their livelihoods, yet the Sport Fishing Advisory Committee has not been meaningfully consulted causing unnecessary strain on Sport Fishers and costal communities. Again, the protection of the Southern Residential Killer Whale and wild pacific salmon is of upmost importance to everyone involved. And those on the water have local knowledge necessary in developing effective solutions.
You can read the full letter here
Qualification Requirements:
Eligibility for the CDCP is determined based on several criteria. Currently the program is expanding to seniors, children under 18 and people with disabilities. Eventually all Canadians who meet the following criteria will qualify:
Note: Canadian residents who have access to dental coverage through a social program offered by a province or territory and/or the federal government can still qualify for the CDCP if they meet all the eligibility criteria.
