Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen is reaching out to local municipalities for their support in establishing a national suicide prevention hotline in Canada.

The proposal to create a 988 suicide prevention number in Canada was introduced in the House of Commons last December by Conservative MP Todd Doherty.

The number would consolidate all suicide crisis numbers in the country into one easy-to-remember three-digit telephone number.

Bergen is asking municipal councils in her riding to help push the idea and put some pressure on the federal government by passing a motion similar to the one introduced in Parliament.

"Governments at different levels do listen and that's good, that's the way it should be. Municipalities do have an impact and ... play a very key role in these kinds of issues"

Bergen says an easy-to-remember hotline would have served Canadians well during this pandemic. She says COVID-19 has been incredibly challenging and has had a devastating impact on the mental health of Canadians.

"It's caused people a lot of stress. People miss their families, they miss their normal life and their mental health is being strained and many times they are not allowed to go to church. Our spiritual well-being is connected, I believe. People aren't getting the medical treatments that they should for other illnesses and that's hurting people. This is a crisis."

Bergen says the federal government has a role to play in supporting mental health for Canadians and she believes a national 3-digit suicide hotline is a solid step forward in that direction.