Canadian Lawyer

CroSS eXaMineD Mental health advocate enters the red chamber Saskatchewan���s Denise Batters heads to the Senate with a desire to further awareness about suicide prevention. ���Mental health advocacy will remain a personal priority for me,��� says Denise Batters. D By JeNNifer BrOwN enise Batters is still a little bit in awe of her new colleagues. When she entered the red chamber for the first time recently as a new senator she found herself surrounded by accomplished business people and sports figures she has admired for years. ���Jacques Demers came up and introduced himself to me. Of course I know who Jacques Demers is ��� I���m a huge hockey fan ��� but that was the one that really took me back. It was really humbling,��� says the Regina lawyer. ���It was pretty incredible.��� Batters, wife of Conservative MP Dave Batters who took his own life in 2009 just shy of his 40th birthday, hopes to use her new position in the Senate to advocate for mental health issues. Last year she appeared as a witness before a House of Commons committee on mental health. ���I���m very proud to be able to serve my 20 April 2013 www.CANADIAN province and country in this way,��� she says of her appointment to the Senate. ���Mental health advocacy will remain a personal priority for me because it���s been an important part of my life.��� Bill C-300, the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act, which was a private member���s bill introduced by MP Harold Albrecht from KitchenerConestoga ��� one of Dave Batters��� colleagues ��� was signed into law Dec. 14, 2012. ���It���s pretty rare when a private member���s bill passes. I watched that vote on TV and it was an amazing experience to see all of Dave���s former colleagues and friends vote for that and know they were probably thinking of him when they did that, including the prime minister,��� says Batters. Watch the suicide prevention public service annoucement on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=uN1ipXNcq1U L a w ye r m a g . c o m While depression and mental illness have been more in the public eye lately, Batters says suicide still carries a stigma few talk about. ���I���m just trying to help people not have to go through the same situation as I did and my husband did,��� she says. In 2010 and 2012, Batters helped organize charity golf tournaments that have raised $50,000 in honour of her late husband. The funds were used to produce and broadcast a 30-second television commercial urging depressed men to seek treatment. The public service announcement targets men aged 30 to 50 ��� the highest risk group for suicide. Men are three times more likely to die from suicide than women. Batters hopes people will watch it and pass it along via social media and their own networks to increase awareness. ���We���ve specifically targeted that category and the basic message is, ���You are not alone; there is help, please

• Cover