The Mounties’ union is lobbying in Quebec after the province cut funding for first responders’ access to free psychotherapy.

The National Police Federation — the bargaining unit representing members and reservists of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police below the inspector rank — has been communicating with Quebec officials since Aug. 18. Its lobbying registration, which has been translated from French, says the union seeks to “promote the maintenance, improvement and long-term funding of mental health support programs for police officers,” specifically PSPNET Québec, the provincial chapter of Public Safety Personnel Network.

PSPNET provides online mental health care to public safety personnel, from firefighters and paramedics to police, border services and corrections staff. Founded in 2019 and based out of the University of Regina, the program offers free and online therapist- or self-guided courses in English and French. It is specifically designed to support first responders, including volunteers and retirees.

Until recently, the Quebec government subsidized the francophone division of the program. At the end of its last grant to the program, worth $750,000 over 3 years, the province decided not to renew its funding, media reported in May.

Since funding has stopped, PSPNET no longer accepts new applications for therapist-guided programs from public safety personnel in Quebec. In the past year, 1,000 Quebec-based first responders used the program’s services.

The director of PSPNET’s francophone program says 85 per cent of people who register for the service are tackling significant mental health challenges, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Despite outcry from first responders' associations, the provincial government has stood by its decision.

In a statement to the IJF which has been translated from French, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Security said “it is the responsibility of each employer … to offer their employees measures related to their physical and mental health.”

The ministry added that it has implemented a suicide prevention campaign for public safety personnel, specifically bringing attention to La Vigile, a 24/7 hotline and referral service reserved for frontline workers including nurses and doctors.

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