Sep 10, 2018
Inuit to gather on Parliament Hill
Today, on World Suicide Prevention Day, Inuit will gather at Parliament Hill in Ottawa to draw attention to the need for more suicide prevention efforts in Inuit Nunangat, where the suicide rates are roughly 10 times higher than in Canada as a whole.
At 12:15 p.m. students from the Ottawa-based Nunavut Sivuniksavut college program will perform in front of Parliament. Then, Monica Kanayuk-Ell of the Inuit Circumpolar Council is scheduled to speak at 12:40 p.m.
Communities in the North will also host events today: in Cambridge Bay, people are to arrive at the Luke Novoligak Community Hall at 6:30 p.m. At 8 p.m., there will be a candle-lighting ceremony to show support for suicide prevention, the survivors of suicide and to remember those lost to suicide.
World Suicide Prevention Day, also known in Nunavut as Embrace Life Day, is intended to promote understanding about suicide and highlight prevention activities.