The 2006 Walk has been completed. Thank you very much to all who donated and assisted us over the past 4 years.
If you would like the walk to continue in the future, please write to:
Vincent Watts, President
211-755 Market St.
Victoria, BC
V8T 2E5
Victoria Head Office: (250) 477-1415
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The staggering rate of suicide among First Nation Youth is at epidemic highs. The Nunavut region alone is at a high of eleven times the national average. Between 70 - 80% of all Canadian youth consider suicide before graduation from high school. More than 25,000 youth attempt suicide each year and of those, 250 are successful.
In 2000, 35 British Columbian youth, between the ages of 10 19 committed suicide. First Nations men between the ages of 15-24 have a suicide rate of 126 per 100,000 while the national suicide rate among Canadian men is 24 per 100,000.
In Nishnawbe-Aski Nation between the years 1986 to 1995, there was a 400% increase in suicide and on the Northern Coast of Labrador, an overall rate of 80.2 for youth between the ages of 10 - 19 years old. While in Alberta, the rate was 80, and in the central region, the rate was 71.2 per 100,000.
Youth suicide rates in Canada are at epidemic proportions and as Chief Charles Fox, of the Chiefs of Ontario said " losing one more person to suicide is one to many". Fox also said that it is time for the federal government to get more involved and create a program to help combat the problem.
Our Elders say, "That silence is deadly when we pretend the problem is not there, communication is a healer to break that silence." In order to raise awareness of this problem and break the silence, the Youth Suicide Prevention group walked across Canada in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
 
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