By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
On April 27, New Democratic Party (NDP) member of parliament Gord Johns introduced motion M-31 in the House of Commons focused on mental health services in Canada. This is a private members’ motion: a motion introduced by individual members who are not a part of Cabinet or the Legislative assembly, the law-making committees of the House. M-31 calls to recognize that the country is going through a “a mental health and substance use crisis” wherein “too many Canadians are unable to access mental health or substance use supports in a timely manner.”
The motion notes that emergency services and general practitioners have been overstrained in this country as a result of increased mental health issues and “lack of access to community-based mental health and substance use services.” Johns’ motion also highlights how Canada’s mental health funding has lagged behind countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.
The motion calls on the government to increase federal spending on mental health services from a reported 6.9% as of 2019, to 12% of the nationwide health-care spending budget. It emphasizes the need to work with provincial governments while reaching this budgetary goal, and the need to present annual reports to parliament concerning this issue.
Concerns regarding mental health remain significant in this country, with “one in three people aged 15 years and older [experiencing] a mental illness or substance use disorder during their lifetime,” according to a 2021 report from the federal government. This report points out that the mental health crisis affects different groups disproportionately, highlighting that Indigenous Peoples experience “persistent inequalities” through the ongoing effects of colonization. This ongoing process has a direct impact on the mental health of Indigenous Peoples through “the loss of land, culture, and self-determination,” as well as structural challenges such as “discrimination and a lack of culturally safe services.”
Federal NDP leader Avi Lewis has also supported the bill, alongside the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH), a national policy advocate for mental health in Canada. The Peak reached out to Gord Johns via email, and a media representative shared a recorded press conference held on April 30. At the conference, Lewis noted,
“Mental health is part of your health. It should be part of our publicly funded health-care system.”
— Avi Lewis, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada
Lewis further added that Canada was in a moment of “nation building” and that “comprehensive mental health coverage is a nation-building project worthy of the [parliamentary] term.”
Anthony Esposti, co-chair of CAMIMH, highlighted that the issue requires “all parties come together to achieve mental health parity, which will help address the systemic issues that contribute to the deepening mental health and opioid crises in Canada.”
Johns, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2015 representing the Courtenay-Alberni riding, has previously advocated for federal action on mental health. In 2025, he introduced M-20, a motion that aimed to establish a “national strategy for addressing the mental health impacts of emergencies,” including natural disasters and large-scale emergencies that impact communities. However, this motion was never tabled in parliament. Johns also focused on issues such as substance use by introducing the private members’ bill, C-216, in 2021. Among other actions, this bill aimed to amend several federal laws surrounding substance use, including amending the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to reduce charges of possession of certain narcotics via decriminalization. However, the bill did not progress past its second reading in the House.
