Bridge barrier advocates win national award
On the fifth Anniversary of the meeting that launched the campaign to build the now infamous Bloor Viaduct suicide prevention barrier campaign, the Schizophrenia Society of Canada honoured the Toronto volunteers who made it a reality.
Al Birney and Michael McCamus, co-chairs of the Bloor Viaduct anti-suicide barrier campaign won the prestigious, Bill Jefferies Family Award — named after the Oakville high school teacher who founded the society in 1979 and died earlier this year of complications from Parkinson’s.
"This is the highest praise," said Birney, a volunteer with the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, who first proposed the barrier at its meeting on June 22, 1997.
"Mr. Jefferies was a man of incredible courage and conviction. This bridge project has taken five years of toil and turmoil, but its all been worth it. Families of the mentally ill can look at the barrier and say, ‘that’s ours. We did that to protect our children and we’re proud.’ "
"It was just a wonderful thing to do," Birney’s wife Kathleen said.
McCamus, 30, another Schizophrenia Society volunteer who worked closely with Birney, said the honour should be shared with many others.
"The barrier is finally going up, but we shouldn’t forget the 400 lost souls who made its construction necessary," he said. "The real recognition goes to the families who lost their children there. They fought hard to end this tragedy."
Since 1919, Toronto’s Bloor Street Viaduct has attracted more than 400 suicides, making it the world’s No. 2 suicide magnet after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Niagara Falls attracts nine suicides a year; Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge six; and Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bride, three.
In October 1998, city council unanimously approved the luminous veil, an award-winning barrier design by architect Dereck Revington made up of 10,000 thin stainless steel rods. But the city delayed construction after its price rose from $1.5 million to $5.5 million. During the lengthy delay, another 42 people jumped to their deaths.
"Were still upset that it took this long," said Birney.
"World War II didn’t take five years, but fighting City Hall for this barrier did. We’re thankful the campaign was a victory. Now people understand that the lives of the mentally ill have value."
Anti-suicide barriers have been erected at other famous "suicide landmarks," including the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Suicide experts at the University of Toronto testified at City Hall that most suicides are impulsive, and that if an individual’s deprived of their preferred method, most will think twice and seek help.
Bill Jefferies, 86, had two brothers and one son who suffered from schizophrenia, a biological brain disease that causes paranoia, hallucinations and delusional thinking. More than 300,000 Canadians suffer from schizophrenia.
In 1990, Jefferies was awarded the Order of Canada for his international campaign to raise awareness of the disease, resulting in the founding of the SSC and the World Schizophrenia Fellowship, now in 30 countries.
Fifty per cent of people suffering from schizophrenia make a suicide attempt, but only 12 per cent succeed in killing themselves.