URGENT!

Help Us Move Bill C-277 Forward

The following information is from Brain Injury Canada:

On June 12, 2024, the House of Commons voted unanimously in favour of Bill C-277, An Act to establish a national strategy on brain injuries.

This was an incredible moment for the brain injury community as brain injury has never had this level of focus in the House of Commons before. But the work is just getting started and we have a few more big hurdles before this becomes law.

Where are we now and what’s next?

The bill has now been referred to the Standing Committee on Health. This means:

The committee examines the bill in detail, holds hearings, and may invite witnesses.
The committee may propose amendments to the bill. Amendments are debated and voted on by the committee members.
The committee reports the bill back to the House of Commons with or without amendments.

There are multiple stages a bill has to go through to receive Royal Assent, and it takes a long time. And if it isn’t passed before the next election, we have to start all over again. This means we have to work fast—and we need the help of everyone.

How can you help?

Our goal is to flood the Standing Committee on Health with letters and briefs from individuals and organizations to demonstrate the cross-Canadian support for a National Strategy. This is an important and long-overlooked need on behalf of Canadian’s living with a brain injury. This is our chance to make ourselves heard.

You can help by submitting a letter or brief sharing your perspective of why a national strategy is needed and how it will improve the lives of individuals and families living with the effects of brain injury.

Our Executive Director, Linda Sankey, participated in the panel presentation during the 3rd annual BC Consensus Day on Brain Injury, Mental Health, Addictions and Homelessness.

We are very excited about the Federal Bill developments on Bill C277 to create a National Strategy on Brain Injury.

Thank you so much to our hosts at UVIC for conducting research on these important topics. We would also like to thank one of the South Okanagans very own, Janelle Breese Biagoni. Janelle has been so instrumental and inspiring to so many people. And lastly, thank you to all of the individuals and Brain Injury serving organizations who participated.

PRESS RELEASE - JULY 12, 2024

South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society (SOSBIS) responds to Fraudulent Letter purportedly written by its Executive Director.

July 12, 2024 – The South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society (“SOSBIS”) has been made aware of a Facebook post containing a letter purportedly written by our Executive Director to some racist organization in the United States. We take this matter extremely seriously and have conducted a thorough investigation. We are confident that the letter did not originate from SOSBIS or its Executive Director.

We have been advised that the creation and circulation of this fraudulent letter very likely constitutes a criminal act, and as such, we have notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) which has opened an investigation.

We would like to assure our members, clients, and the general public that SOSBIS does not tolerate racism in any form. Our organization is dedicated to serving the community with integrity and respect and ensuring that all our operations are conducted without bias or discrimination.

SOSBIS is continuing to monitor this situation closely and will take all necessary steps to protect our officers and staff. We urge anyone who has been negatively affected by the aforementioned post to seek assistance using one of the mental health supports offered by the government of British Columbia.

For further information or inquiries, please contact:

Linda Sankey

Executive Director

South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society

Lsankey@sosbis.com

250-490-0613 ext. 204

Thank you for your understanding and continued support

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