Youth celebrate life on Parliament Hill

It's not about dwelling on what's been lost; it's about celebrating what you have.
That's the message National Inuit Youth Council youth intervenor, Tommy Akulukjuk delivered on Parliament Hill when World Suicide Prevention Day was marked Sept.10.
"What we wanted to do on this day," said Akulukjuk, "is say that this is the day we celebrate life. This is the day we embrace life, the day we enjoy life."
The message was raised by 50 to 60 Inuit students living in Ottawa who carried picket signs reading "culture heals," "live life," and "celebrate life." The march was a coordinated effort on the part of Inuit organizations in Ottawa.
The message of celebrating life is an important one and most important in Inuit communities. In Canada, the Inuit have the highest suicide rate.
Health Canada statistics reveal that the Inuit suicide rate is more than 11 times higher than the Canadian rate, and that 83 per cent of those taking their lives are people under 30 years of age.
Having a positive message was one way to address the issue.
"We don't want to bring in all the negativity of suicide into our communities although we experience it a lot throughout the year," said Akulukjuk, adding that suicide first touched his life when he was 14 years old and his best friend committed suicide. "When I was 14 and just about every year since, there was at least a close friend, a friend, a friend's family member or even my own family members that committed suicide."
But dealing with the issue is not a single day event. Akulukjuk who is now 26 years old is working with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami on national Inuit youth suicide prevention strategies.
"Suicide in Canada is unacceptable and for communities to suffer that kind of agony I think it's a national issue. We have to try and influence and motivate the government into wanting to do something about the societal issues of our Aboriginal Inuit northern communities," said Akulukjuk.
To that end, ITK has sent a questionnaire to the federal party leaders asking them to address 12 issues during the election campaign. One of those issues deals with suicide.
Stephen Hendrie, ITK communications director, notes that his organization has been lobbying the government for the past three years to implement a national suicide strategy and in particular a national Inuit mental wellness strategy.
The talks are ongoing between ITK's health and environment department and Health Canada. Hendrie points out that in Arctic communities there are rarely physicians to deal with physical ailments much less mental health workers to deal with suicide.
The question to the federal leaders states: "Does your party support additional federal funding to allow for the construction and operation of Mental Health Centres for the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse and other mental health issues for Inuit in the Arctic?"
This question, notes Mary Simon, president of ITK, is "important to the Inuit and (is) current in our nation's political dialogue," Simon is a director on the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Suicide is a modern issue for Inuit. Changes in society have been "overwhelming," said Hendrie, with 100 years of development pushed into 30 or 40 years.
"Society has gone from adults born in igloos to living among youths who are on the internet every day. It's really quite remarkable."
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Perhaps one of the biggest steps in dealing with suicide is talking about it.
"We have to at some point grab the bulls by the horn and stop denying it's a problem and bring it out in the open," said Hendrie. "When we talk about it in the open, it allows people to realize that they're not alone, that we can provide support and demonstrate that respective organizations are doing different things about it."
ITK is pushing the federal government to not only implement a national suicide prevention strategy but for that strategy to include policy specific to the Inuit.
In a news release marking World Suicide Prevention Day, Simon states, "Canada needs to take this issue seriously. Canada must develop a national suicide prevention strategy and within this strategy recognize that there is an ongoing need for an enhanced sustainable National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy. Countries with a national strategy have succeeded in dramatically lowering their suicide rates. In coordination with that we need a National Inuit Mental Wellness Strategy ­ the two would work together (to) ensure policy and programs that are responsive to the health, social and economic realities in Canada's Arctic."
Presently communities are working with Inuit organizations, governments and non-government organizations in the four Inuit land claim regions to increase supports for coping, promoting resiliency and raising awareness, so Inuit know where to go for help and how to help when asked.
These communities are home to over 80 per cent of the Inuit's population of 55,000 and 90 per cent of these communities are accessible by air alone.