海角社区官网

“The only thing that’s really holding us back on this 鈥� is money. It won’t be cheap,” he said,聽adding suicide prevention shouldn’t be looked at as “a cost centre” but “a preventative investment.”聽

The councillor noted聽a barrier would at least stop someone in a crisis who decides to make an impulsive decision by giving them time to allow the crisis to pass, rethink the situation or get help.

According to 海角社区官网police data, there have been two suicides at the bridge this year, which is down from a recent peak that saw it rivalling the numbers that had been seen at the Bloor Viaduct before its barrier was installed.

Second in North America only to the Golden Gate Bridge in the number of suicides each year, the Viaduct had a permanent barrier installed in 2003 and cost $5.5 million following聽years of advocates pushing city council. A聽聽found the barrier was effective.

“Restricting access to the means of suicide is one of the most effective ways to prevent (it),”聽said聽Mark Sinyor, a doctor at聽Sunnybrook Hospital who led the study, emphasizing suicide is preventable in conjunction with other supports.

Research shows that bridge barriers and nets do not shift suicide deaths to other locations, said Maria Boada, director of intensive community support services at the Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto.

Then in 2018, the city began聽reviewing 10 鈥減riority鈥� bridges and the feasibility of installing safety barriers,聽placing emergency phones or crisis-line signs nearby and adding patrols or camera surveillance. The study is ongoing.

Michael McCamus, a mental health advocate and former vice-chair of the聽Bloor Viaduct Project Steering Committee, said barrier projects often get “bogged down” with years of “endless bureaucracy and funding shortfalls” at city hall.聽

The Bloor Viaduct barrier didn’t get built because it was a good or necessary idea, he said, but because there was a volunteer committee of concerned community members who “fought step by step, inch by inch to drag it across the goal-line.” The barrier for the Leaside Bridge, McCamus added, will need that same amount of determination.

Pasternak said the city has already started a feasibility study on Leaside Bridge’s state of good repair, so he hopes to combine the two projects.

“If you are thinking about suicide, you matter. Our society cares about you,” Sinyor said. “That is the message the city will be sending.”

Clarification聽鈥� July 5, 2024

This story has been updated to clarify that Coun. James Pasternak introduced the motion after hearing from a local resident who was a friend of one of the victims.