Hiring the mentally ill - John Stokdijk, CMA

Hiring the mentally ill
by John Stokdijk, CMA
Chief Financial Officer of the Mental Health Commission of Canada
http://johnstokdijk.blogspot.com/

Would you knowingly hire someone with a mental illness

The Mental Health Commission of Canada, launched by the Government of Canada in 2007, faced this question in its early days of organizational life. The Commission is “a non-profit organization created to focus national attention on mental health issues and to work to improve the health and social outcomes of people living with mental illness”. My colleagues on the senior management team and I quickly agreed that it was important for the credibility of the Commission to “walk the talk.”

Opening Minds to take the stigma out of Mental Illness

NEWS RELEASE

Opening Minds to take the stigma out of Mental Illness

CALGARY, AB October 2, 2009 ‐ Opening Minds, the largest systematic effort in Canadian history to reduce the stigma of mental illness, was launched today by the Honourable Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

“More than seven million Canadians will experience a mental health problem in 2009. Many of these people will not seek help because of the stigma surrounding mental illness. In fact, people who live with mental illness tell us that the stigma is often worse than the disease itself”, says Kirby.