Saint John councillor wants Reversing Falls Bridge suicide barrier reconsidered

After hearing a first-hand account from someone who witnessed a person jumping from the Reversing Falls Bridge in Saint John, Coun. Gary Sullivan says it's time to reconsider building a suicide barrier there.

The councillor brought the discussion back to a council meeting Monday night and received unanimous support from other councillors  for looking at adding a barrier. 

Sullivan said it's been on his mind since council's first attempt to have it done stalled with the province, but seeing and hearing how a suicide affects not only the family of the person involved but also bystanders made him realize it was time to do something.

"All in all we need something there that not only gives people pause and prevents people from using that bridge to commit suicide but also has information on support, phone and all those things to help those people to get the extra help they need." 

Sullivan said he's still waiting for up-to-date data on the number of suicides and suicide attempts at the Reversing Falls Bridge, but he knows in the first six months of 2017, the bridge was mentioned in 21 police files about missing persons and people admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act.

"That was 21 files in the first six months of that year, so it doesn't take a genius to say that's 40-ish in a year." 

As a boater, Sullivan said, he often sees the fire department's rescue boat and the Canadian Coast Guard headed in the direction of the bridge, and his assumptions about why are usually correct. 

The city will send an official letter to the province, but Sullivan said he also plans to contact Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Oliver to see if they can talk about the issue.   

The province had budgeted $500,000 to build a suicide barrier but the plan was put on hold by former transportation minister Bill Fraser in 2016 to allow for a broader discussion about mental health in the province.

At the time, there were questions about whether a barrier was would just move the suicide risk elsewhere. 

DTI said Tuesday it reviewed options at the time, including what is done in other jurisdictions as preventive measures, but then a decision was made to not move forward with any barrier projects at the Reversing Falls Bridge.

Sullivan dismissed concerns about the esthetics of the fencing and a barrier's potential effect on tourists at Reversing Falls.

While many tourists stand on the bridge to take photos of the falls, Sullivan said there are many other places to stand and take pictures. 

"There's lots of places to get beautiful pictures of our beautiful Reversing Falls that isn't from the middle of the bridge."