Rising suicide rates in Toronto raise eyebrows at TTC
February 2018
In recent months, an increase in the number of deaths by suicide have begun to make people question why and how these incidents occur. Eight incidents were reported on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in December.
In an interview with Stuart Green, TTC media relations and issues management specialist, he said, “Unfortunately, we don’t have any insights as to what caused this spike in December. They are, of course, tragic for everyone involved.”
Green also mentioned that there is no difference between the number of men and women who try to end their life. “A fairly even split,” he said. No comment was made in regards to different ethnic groups and if they are more prone to either suicidal ideation or the physical act of taking their own life.
A monthly report sent out by Rick Leary, Acting Chief Service Officer at the TTC addresses the absentee rates of employees. The absence of employees has not been confirmed to be correlated with the recent incidents, but their statistics are higher than usual and have not gone down in a while.
Leary writes, “The absenteeism rate in November increased to 7.85 per cent. Overall performance has been above the 12-month average for four of the past five months. Staff continues to manage absence with a focus on reducing the number of complex absence cases and the duration of these absences. In order to improve performance, senior management is undertaking reviews of trends in their responsibility areas with a goal to establish departmental absence reduction targets.”
According to Tim Wall, executive director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, he said, “Suicide is a very complex issue, and there are many things that will contribute to someone getting to the point in their life where their sense of hope is completely overwhelmed by feelings of despair and pain and hopelessness.”
Green addressed the issue, saying, “The tragedy of someone losing their life or being severely and permanently injured extends beyond the individual and his or her family. The train crew, witnesses and other TTC personnel involved in suicide incidents face possible life-altering post-traumatic stress disorder. As an employer and provider of a public service in Toronto, the TTC takes suicide prevention very seriously.”
According to Green, he said, “The TTC is open to working with experts in the field of mental health to identify options for prevention. One that has been identified is the installation of platform-edge doors which would block access to the tracks. The cost associated with this option is approximately $1.5 billion system-wide. In terms of what is already in place, we do have a partnership with Crisis Link. We also have the GateKeeper program through which we train frontline personnel on issues of mental health and what to look for in someone contemplating suicide on the subway.”
Leary adds, “These are complex cases of trauma and employees receive support from all areas of the organization to assist in their recovery and ultimate return to work. Unfortunately, these incredibly traumatic incidents affect people differently, and people require different amounts of time to heal. We are committed to working with our employees to get them the support they need.” This implies that employees at the TTC are among those that have been involved with previous incidents but was not confirmed.
If you or someone you know is thinking about ending their life, call your local helpline to talk to someone who can help. The Toronto Distress Line is 416–408–4357. If you are a survivor and need support, call the Survivor Support Program at 416–595–1716.
