Centre Wellington councillor completes 531 km walk to Ottawa

A walk to stop the silence From CTV Kitchener's Spencer Turcotte: A Centre Wellington councillor's journey to raise awareness surrounding mental health struggles.

KITCHENER — More than three weeks after leaving his office in Elora, Neil Dunsmore has arrived at Parliament Hill.

On Sunday, the councillor for Centre Wellington completed his 531 kilometre walk to Ottawa.

Dunsmore made the journey as a way to bring attention to mental health issues.

"There's two pandemics going on," Dunsmore said. "COVID-19 we will eventually solve. The mental health pandemic is under the surface."

He also wanted to raise money for the Cody Shepperd Project, an initiative that supports families who are struggling with mental health challenges and suicide. It’s named after the Centre Wellington District High School student who died by suicide in 2017.

Dunsmore says nobody should ever feel like they they’re alone.

“It’s a stigma problem, people don’t reach out because they think it’s a weakness and part of the steps to stop the silence is getting the message out that you are not weak if you ask for help,” he said.

Dunsmore said he chose Ottawa as his final destination to bring more government attention to the issue.

He hopes all levels of government will step up and take action.