NDP, mother who lost son call for suicide action

A mother who lost her son to suicide and the provincial NDP are calling on the government to develop a suicide prevention strategy.

Last year, the critic for northern Saskatchewan Doyle Vermette tabled Bill 613, The Saskatchewan Strategy for Suicide Prevention Act, 2018, which wasn’t passed by the government.

It Saskatchewan the first province in the country that didn’t pass a bill aiming to reduce suicides.

Marilyn Irwin, who lost her son MacRae to suicide on May 1, 2018, has been pushing to get something solidified in the province.

She describes her son, who left behind two children, as an “awesome and beautiful young man.”

“I’m going to fight this fight, so no others will have to suffer this fate. It’s not just the person that died by suicide, it’s the people that are left behind.”

Marilyn Irwin, along with the NDP, wants the provincial government to move forward with a Suicide Prevention Strategy. (Brady Lang/650 CKOM)

Irwin said she has stopped going to work, and her son also suffered from addictions.

She said the complex situation left him with bad health conditions, making him what she called delusional, which ultimately led to him being arrested.

After his arrest, MacRae’s judge released him back to his mom. But he ended up having to leave the province to get help with his struggles.

He didn’t complete the program, and ended up coming back to Saskatoon.

Irwin said the probation officer required her son to attend addictions services once a month.

He wound up going to private counselling.

After a trip to the emergency room on Christmas after multiple suicide attempts, Irwin said MacRae couldn’t comprehend what questions he was asked.

He was released, and later on, after more attempts and struggling with his addictions, MacRae tried to detox from methamphetamine.

“In 2018, in March, he decided to detox from meth on his own. That’s when he died by suicide.

“Detoxing on your own from meth, or any drug, is a dangerous situation. It should have been medically assisted. He felt so hopeless, shamed and guilt that his back was against the wall.”

Irwin said her son had a family, a job and owned his own house. She said it could happen to anyone.

“If you think it (won’t) happen to you, it can. It can happen to your loved one. You don’t have to be rich, poor, tall, short, fat, skinny. It could be anyone.”

Since MacRae’s death, Irwin has become an advocate for suicide and suicide prevention.

Her next focus is World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10, where she’ll be holding an event at Station 20 West with the Saskatoon branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Irwin, along with the NDP, hopes that sharing her story will push the provincial government to create a plan moving forward.

The NDP will be tabling Bill 613 again.