{"id":703205,"date":"2026-05-30T06:25:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T06:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/703205\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T06:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T06:25:50","slug":"ottawa-announces-5m-for-mary-simon-mental-wellness-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/703205\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa announces $5M for Mary Simon mental wellness initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Money is for legacy initiative that supports culturally grounded care in northern and remote communities<\/p>\n

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon thanked Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday for what she called a \u201cvery generous gift,\u201d as the federal government announced millions in funding for a new mental wellness initiative tied to her legacy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon speaks with newly elected NTI president Gloria Uluqsi Friday as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, far left, Nunavut Health Minister Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster and Nunavut Education Minister David Akeeagok look on during an announcement for her legacy initiative. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)<\/p>\n

Ajuinnata: The Mary Simon Catalyst for Mental Wellness, is a new initiative led by the Rideau Hall Foundation that aims to expand culturally grounded and peer-led mental health services in northern, rural and remote communities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s receiving $5 million. On top of that, Ottawa pledged to match up to $10 million raised through philanthropic donations.<\/p>\n

Carney\u2019s announcement at the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in Ottawa focused on Simon\u2019s advocacy, during her tenure as Governor General, for mental wellness, particularly in Inuit and northern communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project will provide the communities you visited \u2014 and you visited many \u2014 with the vital mental health care that they deserve: life saving support like counselling, culturally grounded services, and peer-led mental health,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n

The prime minister praised Simon\u2019s decades of public service and advocacy for Indigenous rights and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

He highlighted her role negotiating the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and helping establish the Arctic Council during her tenure as Canada\u2019s first ambassador for circumpolar affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain and again, Mary Simon has taken on enormous challenges and approached them with wisdom, determination and an unwavering commitment to her people and public service,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n

The initiative builds on Simon\u2019s Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour, launched in 2024, during which she travelled to communities across Canada to hear directly from people on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many people \u2014 especially young people and those in remote communities \u2014 continue to lack the support they need,\u201d Simon said. \u201cThe gap in service is acute in northern communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking about visits to Iqaluit and other northern communities, Simon said she repeatedly heard about the importance of support delivered by people who understand Inuit languages, culture and daily realities in the North.<\/p>\n

Simon said northern communities often require approaches such as drop-in counselling and mobile mental health teams because \u201ca mental health crisis can\u2019t always wait for an appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Simon added that her advocacy work will continue after her term as Governor General ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy commitment to the people of the Arctic will never waiver. Ajuinnata!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Inuktitut word \u201cajuinnata\u201d means never give up and has been a core theme of her tenure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney poses with Nunavik throat singer Sylvia Cloutier, left, and Nunavik singer-songwriter Beatrice Deer following an announcement for Ajuinnata: The Mary Simon Catalyst for Mental Wellness in Ottawa on Friday. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)<\/p>\n

Nunavik musician Beatrice Deer, who throat sang with Sylvia Cloutier, described the funding announcement as \u201ctrue reconciliation.\u201d She said the initiative offered hope to communities struggling with intergenerational trauma and suicide.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe may not see the difference right away, but it\u2019s going to make a difference in the future for us,\u201d Deer said.<\/p>\n

Cloutier said the initiative made Inuit communities feel heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you to create the space for us to talk about our traumas and how we have to take care of our mental health means a lot to all of us,\u201d Cloutier said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rideau Hall Foundation president and CEO Teresa Marques said organizers hope the initiative will attract additional support from philanthropists, businesses and community organizations.<\/p>\n

Simon, Canada\u2019s 30th Governor General and the first Indigenous person to hold the office, will complete her five-year term on June 8, when Louise Arbour is scheduled to be sworn in as her successor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Money is for legacy initiative that supports culturally grounded care in northern and remote communities Gov. Gen. Mary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-703205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}