December 2023 CCTA Update — Petition and Question Period in Legislature
Petition Tabled Asking the Government to Proclaim the CCTA
December 5th, 2023
Thank you to our members who vigilantly accumulated signatures from across Alberta and mailed them to the ACTA office. It took some time to find the right opportunity to table the petition in the Legislature when it could receive the attention it deserved. December 5th was the right day!
MLA Janet Eremenko, NDP Opposition Critic for Mental Health, tabled ACTA’s petition to inform the government that the public was shocked they had not yet proclaimed the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta 5 years after the legislation was passed unanimously. MLA Eremenko emphasized that it is the Government’s responsibility to provide Albertans safe and accountable mental health services by regulating health professionals as passed in the Health Professions Act. The Government is withholding basic safety measures in mental health when the solution to proclaim the CCTA has been ready for years.
Legislative Question Period
December 5th, 2023
Questions
Janet Eremenko, Opposition Critic for Mental Health and Addiction, directed questions to Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams regarding the government's stalling to proclaim the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (CCTA).
To summarize, the NDP questioned the Government’s delay in addressing safety risks in mental health counselling for five years when the solution is ready to be enacted — proclaiming the CCTA and regulating unregulated counsellors in Alberta.
To the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, the solution to increase regulated, quality mental health counselling is at your fingertips. Why is your office withholding it from Albertans?
Why is the Minister’s office repeating its call for consultation, creating red tape and delaying public protection?
When will the Minister quit the stalling tactics and commit to basic safety and quality assurances by finally endorsing the proclamation of a College of Counselling Therapy in Alberta?
Ministers' Response
Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Dan Williams, reported the delay in proclaiming the CCTA is because further consultation was requested by Treaty 6 and a few stakeholders. Notably, this is the same response from Ministers for the past 2.5 years.
The Minister of Mental Health and Addiction frequently reaffirmed the value of regulation, stating, “This is an important piece of legislation and regulation.” He expressed gratitude to counsellors in Alberta for the work they are doing.
Furthermore, Minister Williams assured the public they were “not refusing;” rather, they were “going to continue moving forward on this file” and “achieve this end as soon as possible” with comments that further consultation needed to be done.
To accentuate this point further, Minister Williams stated, “...what you’re going to get from this government, a thoughtful, continuous move forward on policy to make sure that we are looking after the public interest and at the same time regulating those professionals.”
Unfortunately, there were still no commitments to timelines.
Minister Williams indicated that he, his office and the departments have been in regular contact with ACTA this month. Regrettably, this is not correct. ACTA’s last conversation about the CCTA was with the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Chief of Staff in September 2023. At that time, it was indicated they were interested in maintaining open lines of communication directly with ACTA and would inform ACTA in a couple of weeks about when the government work about the CCTA will be scheduled. Unfortunately, since that time, ACTA leaders have been unable to secure a follow-up meeting with the Minister, his office or the department despite multiple requests. To date, we have never been given the opportunity to meet with Minister Dan Williams on the CCTA file.
ACTA has reached out again this week, requesting a meeting with Minister Dan Williams and ADM Evan Romanow to ascertain the Government’s specific plans for the CCTA and clarify the work that the Government has already completed. We have not heard back from the Minister at the time of sending this letter.
ACTA (CCTA) Relationships with First Nations, Metis and Inuit
Consultation is not a one time event. ACTA has been building meaningful relationships with Indigenous leaders throughout Alberta for the past several years. We have attended many meetings with First Nations and Metis Health Directors and Chiefs inviting authentic relationship and collaboration into the CCTA.
ACTA is establishing long-standing relationships and partnerships so that the CCTA will continue to be guided by diverse First Nations, Metis and Inuit, and can adjust its processes as knowledge continues to collaboratively grow and change. We respect each Nation’s distinct culture, knowledge, and processes and look forward to continuing to nurture meaningful, healthy relationships.
GOvernment and ACTA Collaborative Work-to-date to regulate the counselling professions
The journey to regulating the counselling professions in Alberta has been long and time-consuming, but also rewarding.
Counselling professionals in Alberta have been meeting with Health Ministers and government departments for decades. Elected officials have acknowledged, regardless of their political party—that unregulated counsellors in Alberta need to be regulated in the Health Professions Act (HPA), to address the risk of incompetent individuals providing health services to vulnerable public because of the lack of oversight.
ACTA created a timeline to demonstrate the collaborative work the Government and ACTA have completed to date and to help clarify the ACTA/CCTA file due to significant personnel changes.
We are proud to say the CCTA remains ready to open in the public interest and continues to receive new members monthly. A major strength of ACTA is the number of registered members committed to regulation, which demonstrates to the Government the size of the profession and readiness to manage the fiscal responsibility of self-regulation.
Furthermore, ACTA’s number of members ready to port to the CCTA accentuates that the proclamation of the CCTA will not disrupt the workforce. In fact, the proclamation of the CCTA will enhance and stabilize the mental health counselling workforce.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Your Voice Matters! Please consider:
Writing letters to Ministers and your MLA
Asking for meetings
Attending Seasonal MLA open houses. T’is the season when elected officials have open invitations for Meet & Greets. Put on your festive gear and lean into hard questions respectfully.
When speaking with elected officials:
Focus on safety - the risks of untrained counsellors offering mental health counselling throughout Alberta.
Share personal examples specific to your personal and professional experience, your community and what you have heard from clients.
How would regulation increase your ability to help Albertans with their mental health?
Share the type of work you do within the diverse modalities and contexts of counselling professionals in Alberta
How would regulation enhance your opportunity for labour mobility and job security throughout Alberta?
We have heard of Master level trained counsellors returning to school to re-educate so they can be regulated to do the same work.
How does lack of regulation negatively impact the public’s access to mental health counselling? What are your clients saying?
Wait lists and vacant jobs because unregulated counsellors cannot apply
Financial expenses - no access to third-party insurance benefits for unregulated counsellors
First Nations can not access FNIHB for counselling when it is offered by an unregulated provider. Indigenous counsellors being regulated would enable them to serve people in their own communities through FNIHB.
Is the elected official okay with the government’s delay in regulating, costing mental health counsellors their hard-earned money to maintain CCTA’s readiness to open while the government fails to prioritize the final components of work?
Perhaps remind them that health professionals fund public safety through self-regulation in the HPA. It does not cost the government.
What actions has the Government taken in the past 2.5 years to complete the additional consultation and contribute to thoughtful solutions to achieve the proclamation of the CCTA?
Upcomming town-Hall Meetings —January 2024
We have scheduled the meeting in January, to provide a reasonable opportunity for the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction to meet with us, so we can provide clarity on the status of the government’s work plan regarding the CCTA.
Register Now....