NDP MLA Jenny Kwan is blasting the provincial government for closing an ESL program for immigrants with mental health issues.
At a Friday press conference, Kwan described the Access to Community through English program as a critical service for new British Columbians, and insisted its $181,000 per year price tag is cost-efficient.
“Premier Christy Clark promised she would balance the budget without any program cuts to health care,” Kwan said, flanked by five of the program’s students. “Cutting this program will only further isolate a vulnerable group of people, which could lead to hospitalization.”
The MLA said the loss of ACE, which has been providing language training to adults with mental illness for 13 years through Vancouver Coastal Health, will leave immigrants with mental health issues with nowhere else to go.
“The health authorities say they will be referred to other programs, but no referral has been made,” Kwan said. “The truth is, there is no other program like this in the entire country.”
Kwan said ACE gives students the skills and confidence they need to communicate their mental health needs, and to contribute to their community. Many of the students now volunteer or have found paid jobs thanks to the program, she said.
Mariya Ali said she came to Canada from Afghanistan before developing a mental illness, and has been unable to manage other English-language courses that are less accommodating to those with mental illnesses. She said she would feel “empty” without ACE, which supports her needs while she learns English.
Her classmate, Simon Bush, from Eritrea, said he has been discriminated against for his mental illness in other programs. At the program, he feels at home.
Bush said if ACE isn’t salvaged, he will be “very sick again, very depressed.”
