An Impressive Record of Firsts

Our robust policy and advocacy work has been a force for groundbreaking legislative firsts in mental health support, in creating safer health care and in combating gender violence, sexual harassment and institutional betrayal.

In health care, our long-established advocacy for the healing powers of compassion has seen the creation of clinical protocols for implementing trauma-informed care and elimination of the antiquated deny and defend culture in the handling of medical errors. Our proposals for enhancing patent and family centred and other innovations have also been adopted and have influenced healthcare professionals around the world. Our proposals for hospital rating systems and findings in respect of do not resuscitate orders continue to influence clinicians and have formed the basis of scholarly papers.

Early in the pandemic, we publicly called for enhanced mental health support for people experiencing the effects of anxiety, depression and isolation. The federal government later announced creation of Wellness Together, Canada’s first online platform offering mental health support.

In 2021, the federal government, following the strong recommendations of our advocacy clinics, appointed Canada’s first minister for mental health. We continue to advocate for the inclusion of the words “suicide prevention” in the portfolio’s title as part of a necessary campaign to normalize reaching out during times of mental health crisis. Recognizing our groundbreaking work in patient safety and the reduction of trauma caused by medical errors, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) interviewed Kathleen Finlay for its podcast on the release of its highly anticipated report on post-pandemic patient safety.

Our submissions to the House of Commons in 2018 and appearances before committees of the House and Senate saw the government’s anti-harassment legislation (Bill C-65) amended to include a number of our recommendations, including mandatory disclosure of sexual misconduct statistics involving complaints of gender violence and sexual harassment. We were also retained to advise parliamentarians on that bill.

Our call for greater federal attention to gender-related health gaps and for an action plan to deal with gender-related violence and sexual harassment, including their much underreported health implications, has also been acknowledged by the Canadian government in its legislative announcements.

We’ve been consulted by officials of the Canadian military in transitioning to a culture of institutional compassion following an epidemic of sexual misconduct scandals. We’ve worked, pro bono, to support victims of abuse in the RCMP and employees of the Senate of Canada. Boardrooms looking to comply with ESG values in the workplace, especially in the wake of the scandal at Hockey Canada, are also turning to us for guidance.

In the US, several universities have adopted our Hire Us Back program to give victims of sexual misconduct who were forced to abandon their job a chance to safely resume a career.  Other institutions are in the process of signing on to our program.

Kathleen Finlay was the first to call a decade ago for an end to non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual misconductIn 2022 and 2023, we were called on to consult and advise on landmark legislation (Bill S-261) to restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), a cause which Ci founder Kathleen Finlay has campaigned for over the last decade.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#0000ff” class=”” size=””]Mental health experts agree that the creation of the new 988 hotline will be the biggest game changer in suicide prevention in decades. That was the vision Kathleen Finlay had when she began her campaign to bring 988 to Canada four years ago. [/perfectpullquote]

In 2022, our media advocacy and parliamentary outreach resulted in the restoration of GIS income supplements (Bill C-12) that were clawed back from low-income seniors who received CERB benefits. Our 18-month campaign of media interviews and op-ed columns in 2020 and 2021 resulted in the federal government adopting our flagship recommendation to bring new mental health and suicide prevention technology to Canada using a three-digit 988 national hotline system (#Bring988toCanada).

We’ve advised health professionals on strategies to address burnout syndrome and to advocate for increased public awareness and support. We’ve provided strategic support and lab work for new approaches by municipalities to more effectively deal with the needs of the most vulnerable.  Several municipalities are actively working to create an office of chief compassion officer, as per our recommendations. A major healthcare chain is also in the process of adopting what we be a first in healthcare.

We were the first to call for a national inquiry into the lessons of the pandemic and have proposed that the senate of Canada conduct its own inquiry into the future of most vulnerable in Canada, and include in that inquiry a revisiting of the now 50-year-old proposal for a basic annual income.