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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 14 ,2 01 8 | 28 www.concretetrimmings.com CONCRETE FREE ESTIMATES 905-844-5518 1-888-944-5518 uality At Its Best! Call Fernando www 1-888-944-5518 • DRIVEWAYS • FRENCH CURBS • PATIOS • STEPS • WALKWAYS • GARAGE FLOORS ExposEd aggrEgatE (pebble)Interlocking & Concrete Specialists • Pebble Concrete • Stamped Concrete • Interlocking • Flagstone • Walkways • Garage Floors • Patios • Driveways • Curbs (French) Call Mario 905.842.7171 sunmarlandscape.com Interlocking & Concrete Specialists ™ Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff called a recent $20-million federal funding an- nouncement for a national con- sortium on mental health and post-traumatic stress research a first step in supporting public safety officers. "This is the beginning in rec- ognizing the mental health in- juries public safety officers ex- perience on the job," she said during the announcement made at 40 Division Halton po- lice station in Burlington. "They're different than what other occupations have. They can be different from what vet- erans go through and we need to recognize that and move for- ward with our first step here." In October 2016, the standing committee on public safety and national security - of which Da- moff is a member - tabled its first unanimous report in 10 years, titled Healthy Minds, Safe Communities: Supporting our Public Safety Officers. The all-party committee's report called for a national strategy on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and op- erational stress injuries. It also called for a Canadian Institute for Public Safety Offi- cer Health Research advisory council to develop policies and share research on prevention, screening, education, inter- vention and treatment nation- ally. The $20-million funding, over five years and starting in 2018-19, will support a new na- tional research consortium be- tween the Canadian Institute of Health Research and Canadian Institute for Public Safety Re- search and Treatment. The consortium will work to address the incidence of post- traumatic stress injuries among public safety officers and become the first step in co- ordinating research and treat- ment, according to Damoff. She said Halton was truly fortunate to have emergency services that recognized men- tal and post-traumatic stress injuries can happen and taken steps to provide support to help. "We're one of the leaders in Canada in that regard in all of our services. When I talked to my colleagues from across Canada while doing our study, I found out, in fact, a lot of ser- vices don't provide the sup- ports that are provided here," noted Damoff. "So, I feel really blessed to be able to work with such amazing people as those that are stand- ing behind me and I'm very hopeful that the funding we're providing you in the budget help give you additional tools to be able to do the good work that you're doing." Halton police Insp. Ivan L'Ortye (who was representing Chief Stephen Tanner at the funding announcement) and Staff Sgt. Malcolm Wright both said they were thrilled at the NEWS Feds dole out $20M in funding for mental health, post-traumatic stress research From left, are: Oakville Fire Chief Brian Durdin; Staff Sgt. Malcolm Wright, Organization and Wellness Unit - Halton Regional Police; Insp. Ivan L'Ortye, Halton police (on behalf of Police Chief Stephen Tanner); Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff; Paramedia Vanessa Vis, Halton Regional Paramedic Service; Supt. Al Albano, Halton police; and Halton Paramedic Services Deputy Chief Peter McMurrough. Elexa Stevenson photo Damoff calls it first step in supporting first-responders and public safety officers JOHN BKILA jbkila@metroland.com l See GOVERNMENT, page 29