New Democrats propose ministry to deal with mental health and addictions

Ontario's New Democrats want to set up a standalone ministry to bolster the province's mental heath and addictions services.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party has proposed a private member's bill that would the create the new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions if adopted by the legislature.

The new ministry would be charged with cutting wait lists and streamlining services across the province.

Horwath says the government has not taken action on recommendations made in 2010 by an all-party select committee that investigated the issue.

At the time, that committee's top recommendation was the establishment of set an umbrella organization to deal with mental health and addictions issue similar to Cancer Care Ontario.

NDP health critic France Gelinas says mental health and addictions services in Ontario are currently spread across 11 ministries.

In June, British Columbia's newly-elected NDP government announced it would create its own standalone ministry to tackle the addictions crisis in that province.