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Ontario will be latest province with PTSD legislation for first responders

[The body of Toronto officer Darius Garda was recovered last week from Lake Ontario near Polson Pier. PHOTO: Facebook]

Ontario will soon be the latest province to address post-traumatic stress disorder for police officers, firefighters and paramedics. It will join other provinces that have already addressed PTSD in the workplace, particularly for first responders, through both preventative and legislative measures.

The new legislation, hinted at by Labour Minister Kevin Flynn during a recent visit to Ottawa, would make post-traumatic stress disorder — an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event — a “presumptive” condition for workers compensation in Ontario.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Vince Savoia, founder and executive director of the Tema Conter Memorial Trust, tells Yahoo Canada News. “Until then there really isn’t much to say because we have no idea what that would look like.”

Other provinces have taken varied measures to include PTSD as a workplace injury. Manitoba began recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder as a work-related disease on Jan. 1, marking the first time that PTSD was included as an occupational disease by a Canadian workers compensation board.

In Manitoba, claims for post-traumatic stress disorder can now be made for any occupation, and PTSD is now presumed to be a work-related illness.

“It’s not just for the first responders,” Savoia says. “In my opinion, the Manitoba piece of legislation is the gold standard.”

Alberta considers PTSD a workplace injury for police, firefighters and paramedics, Savoia says, but not all occupations or even all first responders are included. Legislation in British Columbia made it easier for employees to file compensation claims for work-related mental illness. And a bill that would make PTSD a presumptive condition for first responders was approved for legal review and public consultation in New Brunswick in November.

Right now in Ontario some cancers are considered presumptive illnesses for firefighters — if a firefighter is diagnosed, it’s automatically presumed a work-related illness. But police and paramedics aren’t included in current presumptive legislation, and PTSD is not a recognized presumptive illness for any Ontario worker.

PTSD among first responders was tragically highlighted in Toronto last week, when the body of a Toronto police officer who died by suicide was pulled from the water near Polson Pier.

The officer, Darius Garda, had difficulty having PTSD recognized by the workers compensation board after being involved in a fatal police shooting a few years ago, some of his colleagues told the Toronto Star.

The effects of PTSD can be life-threatening and long-lasting, and 69 first responders have died by suicide in Canada since April 28, 2014, according to the Tema Conter Memorial Trust, an advocacy and support group for first responders with PTSD.

A University of Lethbridge study released last month showed a connection between the condition and the abuse of prescription drugs in aboriginal populations. While that study looked at the effects of PTSD related to racism, others have found that Canadian paramedics have higher rates of PTSD than those in other first-responder occupations, including military personnel.

Ontario’s legislation has been a long time coming. Toronto MPP Cheri DiNovo first introduced a private-member’s bill that would add PTSD to the list of conditions considered workplace illness seven years ago, and has continued to reintroduce it every time it has failed to pass. Its most current version passed second reading the fall and is expected to be discussed at Queen’s Park on Feb. 16.

And last month MP Todd Doherty tabled a federal private member’s bill that would create a national framework on post-traumatic stress disorder.

Meanwhile, Savoia’s organization is working to educate first responders about PTSD and mental illness before they begin the job during training. Tema Conter Memorial Trust helped Simon Fraser University in B.C. develop a certificate program to help first responders and veterans recognize the signs of PTSD in themselves and colleagues, and implement best practices in their workplaces.