Draft
Draft an opinion piece of about 600-700 words.
The mental health crisis has been an ongoing issue in Ontario for quite some time
before the pandemic, but as of recently this problem has only been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH),
50% of polled Canadians reported that their mental health has been deteriorating since
the pandemic began—mainly dealing with immense feelings of worry and anxiety.
These troubling statistics—alongside rooted inequities within mental health care and the
underfunding of related-initiatives—all demonstrate the urgent need for the Ontario
government to take action and reallocate funding to alleviate this growing burden. The
provincial government has not been doing enough with regards to mental health care,
and this problem is becoming increasingly more evident by the day.
Moreover, it is without a surprise that the mental health crisis has gotten significantly
worse ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began. CAMH has found many indicators
through polling which prove this to be true—including increased rates of substance
usage, and general feelings of heightened anxiety as a result of pandemic-related
worries. Many in Ontario and across Canada are stressed over the financial, healthrelated, and social ramifications of the pandemic.
Although the mental health crisis was indeed a problem before, this only emphasizes
the further need to re-direct focus on this ever-growing issue—and begin to look after
the mental well-being of Ontario.
However, it is important to note that mental health in Ontario doesn’t just need more
funding—but rather, it needs adequate funding. Underfunding of mental health services
in Ontario has been an issue long before the pandemic highlighted this problem.
In retrospect, Addictions & Mental Health Ontario (AMHO) has found that Ontario’s
2020 budget does not sufficiently address the mental health needs of the province.
AMHO makes the point that the $176 million proposed by the government does not fall
in line with the $3.8 billion 10-year goal that was initially planned for mental healthrelated initiatives.
AMHO recognizes that the mental health crisis has been put on the backburner during a
crucial time, and thus has also proposed that the government release the remaining
$204 million so that funding can sufficiently meet the needs of the province.
Another reason why the mental health crisis is so troublesome and calls for increased
funding lies within systemic inequities. Mental health care services are not equally
accessible for everyone in the province—and this especially is relevant for those apart
of vulnerable populations including visible minorities, lower-income individuals, and
Indigenous peoples.
A study conducted by Sherry L. Grace, Yongyao Tan, Robert A. Cribbie, Han Nguyen,
Paul Ritvo, and Jane Irvine found that ethnocultural minorities in Ontario tend to report
higher levels of mental distress in comparison to their White counterparts. Additionally,
vulnerable groups tend to have differing levels of access to mental health care
services—which further emphasizes the need to increase funding to ensure that care is
comprehensive for everyone in the province.
Conclusively, it is evident that the mental health crisis in Ontario needs increased
attention and funding from the government—so long as we plan to overcome this
burden in the future. It is more of an issue now more than ever with the COVID-19
pandemic creating a whole new array of mental health stressors relating to finances,
work, health, and social life. To sufficiently address this rapidly growing issue, the
Ontario government must act to increase funding for mental health initiatives so that we
can begin to take care of this province comprehensively.
Revise, Edit and Proofread
Copy and paste your draft from above. Leave it in its “rough” form above, and revise
and edit the copy below. This is what will be graded for the opinion piece part.
The Need for Mental Health Action in Ontario
The mental health crisis has been an ongoing issue in Ontario for quite some time
before the pandemic, but as of recently, this problem has only been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic has brought upon several mental health stressors
for those not just in Ontario but also worldwide relating to health, finances, and so forth.
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 50% of polled
Canadians reported that their mental health has been deteriorating since the pandemic
began—as many have been dealing with intense feelings of worry and anxiety.
These troubling statistics demonstrate the urgent need for the Ontario government to
take action and alleviate this growing burden. The provincial government has not been
doing enough with regards to mental health care, and this problem is becoming
increasingly more evident by the day.
Moreover, it is without a surprise that the mental health crisis has gotten significantly
worse ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began. CAMH has found many indicators
through polling that prove this to be true—including increased rates of substance usage,
and general feelings of heightened anxiety as a result of pandemic-related worries.
Many in Ontario and across Canada are undoubtedly stressed over the financial, healthrelated, and social ramifications of the pandemic.
Although the mental health crisis was indeed a problem before, this only emphasizes
the further need to re-direct focus on this ever-growing issue—and begin to look after
the mental well-being of Ontario.
It is also important to note that mental health in Ontario doesn’t just need more
funding—but rather, it needs adequate funding. Underfunding of mental health services
in Ontario has been an issue long before the pandemic highlighted this problem.
For example, Addictions & Mental Health Ontario (AMHO) has found that Ontario’s
2020 budget did not sufficiently address the mental health needs of the province. AMHO
makes the point that the $176 million proposed by the government does not fall in line
with the $3.8 billion 10-year goal that was initially planned for mental health-related
projects.
AMHO also acknowledges that the mental health crisis has been put on the backburner
during a crucial time, and thus has proposed that the government release the remaining
$204 million so that funding can sufficiently meet the mental health needs of the
province.
Another reason why the mental health crisis is so troublesome lies within systemic
inequities. Mental health care services are not equally accessible for everyone in the
province—and this especially is relevant for those part of vulnerable populations
including visible minorities, lower-income individuals, and Indigenous peoples (“Access
to mental health services must be more equitable,” Toronto Star, Feb 3).
Furthermore, a study conducted by Sherry L. Grace, Yongyao Tan, Robert A. Cribbie,
Han Nguyen, Paul Ritvo, and Jane Irvine found that ethnocultural minorities in Ontario
tend to report higher levels of mental distress in comparison to their White counterparts.
This further emphasizes the need to increase funding and ensure that care is
comprehensive for everyone in the province.
Conclusively, it is evident that the mental health crisis in Ontario needs increased
attention and funding from the government—so long as we plan to overcome this
burden in the future. It is more of an issue now more than ever with the COVID-19
pandemic creating a whole new array of mental health stressors relating to finances,
work, health, and social life. To sufficiently address this rapidly growing issue, the
Ontario government must act now to increase funding for mental health initiatives so
that we can begin to take care of this province again.