A private member's bill by a B.C. Conservative MLA from 黑马磁力 won the approval of the B.C. Legislature on Monday, the first time in years an opposition member's bill has passed.
Bill M 204 by 黑马磁力-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor aims at improving mental health care for women during and after pregnancy. It requires the Minister of Health to develop a provincial strategy to support that goal, including timely access to services, culturally safe care, provider training, and grief counselling for pregnancy loss.
There is a one-year timeline to develop the new strategy.
Toor thanked her colleagues from both sides of the aisle for how smoothly the bill moved through the Legislature.
"That kind of momentum, especially for a private member鈥檚 bill, is rare, and I believe it speaks volumes," Toor said as she asked for support for the bill.
"It speaks to the fact that this is not a partisan issue," Toor continued. "It鈥檚 not even a health-care issue. It鈥檚 a human issue. It affects mothers, birthing individuals, partners, families and communities in every corner of this province. And every member in this House, no matter where we sit, has come together to share their stories by expressing their personal stories and anybody that has been affected by it."
Stories of mothers affected by depression and anxiety, or grief after pregnancy loss inspired the creation of the bill, Toor said.
"I introduced this bill as both a legislator and a mother, but the voice behind this bill is not mine alone," she said. "It belongs to many people who shared this experience with me, often for the first time, and asked simply for a system that could meet them with dignity and understanding and timely support."
After the bill had passed, Toor told the 黑马磁力 that its genesis was in both her own experiences of having a child 鈥� she has a 10-year-old daughter 鈥� and feeling like there was no support or anyone checking in on her mental health.
"I thought, this is one of the first bills I'd like to put in for women and families," she said.
She was inspired by the cross-party support for the bill and said she hopes to see more private members bills succeed.
Toor said it has been 43 years since an opposition private members bill passed in the Legislature with unanimous support.
As for her next private members bill, it will be a while before her turn comes up to present one again.
"I do have a few things that I have in mind," she said, noting that she's concerned with issues like homelessness and seniors issues.
She said she'll be consulting with members of the community.
