Tories promise $39.7M to improve mental-health care in Nova Scotia

Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Bailliesaid mental-health care in Nova Scotia is in a state of crisis and he has the plan to fix it.

On Monday, he unveiled theparty's$39.7-million, four-year plan that he saidwould reduce wait times and improve care.

"Nova Scotians are crying out for more mental-health service," he said.

The party's plan would:

• Allow every student in the province to access mental-health services in their school.
• Establish four crisis-response centreswhere people having a mental-health crisis would receive treatmentrather than being treated at emergency rooms.
• Add more mental-health courts.
• Establish a mental health and wellness institute at a Nova Scotia university where research would be conducted.
• Create a $250 tax rebate for Nova Scotians with PTSD who have a service dog.

Baillie singles out long Cape Breton wait times

Baillie said the plan would improve mental-health care, especially in Cape Breton, where he said the average wait time to accessservices is 354 days.

"That is a year worth of ...NovaScotianssuffering from depression, from anxiety, from schizophrenia, from a host of mental illnesses where their lives are literally at risk and they wait a yearand we lose some of them while they wait," he said.

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In July 2015, the PCs called for an inquiry into the province's mental-health system, something which the governing Liberals turned down.

On Monday, Bailliebacked away from that call and said the PCs are looking to make the mental-health system better, but a public inquiry isn't part of its plan.

Liberal plan

Last Friday, the Liberals unveiled their plan to address mental health andpromisedto spend more than $34 million and hire more than 100 mental-health professionals and support staff.

The Liberalplan also includes:

• Hiring mental-health clinicians and support staff to work in schools and the province's more than 70 collaborative care centres across Nova Scotia.
• Piloting four youth health centres in Nova Scotia schools.
• Passing thepost-traumatic stress disorder legislationintroduced last month.
• Developing anopioid addiction action plan.

The NDP hasn't unveiled its mental health promises.