After attempting suicide twice this year, a former Parliament Hill staffer is urging the federal government to provide more mental health supports for its employees.
“Part of the problem with the culture on the Hill is there’s just kind of a tough-it-out, drink-to-feel-better (work culture),” Paul Wernick told CTV Power Play host Don Martin. “Most people are actually not comfortable coming forward and saying they have issues because… we don’t have that much labour protection.”
Wernick, who is the son of Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, Canada’s top federal bureaucrat, started working for Liberal MP Francis Drouin in 2015.
“At the beginning, there was just such sense of duty,” the 26-year-old said in a separate interview with CTV National News correspondent Omar Sachedina. “You know, I’m doing this because it's the right thing and I just was so happy when he was proud. But eventually, I just kind of lost my life.”
When Drouin’s executive assistant took a three-month leave, Wernick says he suddenly found himself struggling with a 60- to 70-hour work week that included attending receptions, scheduling meetings and tweaking speeches -- often on Sundays too.
“It was just a never-ending work cycle,” Wernick, who has struggled with depression since his teens, said. “You’re constantly in crisis mode.”
Weighed down by his work, and battling stress and depression, Wernick first attempted suicide in March. He was found by his mother and rushed to hospital.
“Part of the problem was that I just thought that I could tough it out,” he said. “So, I tried to commit suicide on Saturday, I was released Sunday morning and I went to work on Monday.”
In May, he made another attempt, this time in Drouin’s Parliament Hill office.
“I’d planned a pretty serious suicide attempt,” Wernick said. “I’d made letters to my mom and my sister and put them in the mailbox. I bought the Xanax, I bought the vodka, I hid it in my desk with a lock and a key (and) waited for everybody to leave.”
A security officer found him and called an ambulance. Wernick has now resigned from his job.
“And that’s why I’m here,” he said, choking back tears. “I want other people to not have to go through this because it's not okay.”
Wernick says that while the Liberal government has done an excellent job in addressing other workplace issues like bullying and sexual harassment, it is failing when it comes to mental health.
“They need to jump into the 21st century,” he said. “Right now, there’s no overarching goal. It’s like shooting an arrow at a target that doesn’t exist.”
Such improvements, he added, could come if the government partnered with non-profits like the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health to bolster Parliament’s mental health services and create a more supportive work environment.
“We need to develop some type of strategy,” Wernick said.
Wernick would like to see the creation of an online portal for staffers that includes mental health information and resources. He also says that all new Parliament Hill staffers should be given a printed handout that lists all available mental health services.
“I didn’t find out about the crisis line that the House of Commons offers until after my first attempt,” he explained. “To make sure that future staffers don’t have to go through decisions I’d made, we have to look at changing the culture, so making it acceptable to take care of your wellness.”
That includes addressing the fact that most staffers put in well over the 40 hours per week they are contracted to work for. Legislative changes are also important, he added, citing Bill C-65, which is meant to protect parliamentary employees from harassment and violence.
“Bill C-65 is a good start,” Wernick said. “But, you know, we need to start working with (mental health) organizations… to create some goals.”
Former NDP staffer Sarah Andrews knows all too well the pressure and long hours of working on Parliament Hill.
“It’s not the kind of job you can go home and it kind of stays at work,” Andrews, who describes herself on her Twitter page as a “recovering politico,” said. “It follows you home so it kind of impacts your personal life as well.”
She added that she hopes more brave people like Wernick come forward to help push change on Parliament Hill.
“In the coming days and the coming weeks you might hear more stories of people who’ve had the courage to come forward and share their stories,” she said. “You need that sort of initial breaking the barrier, breaking the ice and bringing it forward. It’s tough. It’s a tough subject to talk about.”
With files from CTV’s Omar Sachedina in Ottawa and Power Play
