Saskatoon StarPhoenix Staff
A nationwide volunteer recruiting campaign is underway for a peer support app named in memory of a Canadian military veteran who died trying to protect his family and others on James Smith Cree Nation.
The Burns Way chat app will allow veterans to instantly connect with trained military peer supports, while filling service gaps for those who live in rural areas or are isolated.
The people behind the app announced last year that it would be named in memory of Earl Burns, who was one of 11 people killed in September 2022 when his former son-in-law Myles Sanderson went from house to house stabbing people on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon. Seventeen others were injured.
Burns, 66, was stabbed along with his wife Joyce in their home. When the attacker drove off, Burns chased after him in a school bus but died along a roadway.
“Any veteran seeking support must have the opportunity to connect anonymously with someone who understands their experience first-hand,” Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones president Bob Thibeau said.
Burns served with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. After leaving the military, he became a father and a grandfather. He competed in rodeos. He also bought his own school bus and drove students every day to school on the reserve.
“In an ideal world, programs to support Canadians who have served would be funded by governments. Sometimes resources are unavailable or priorities shift, so the private and not-for-profit sectors must step up and fill the void,” said TryCycle Data Systems founder John MacBeth.
TryCycle previously started a similar app called Talking Stick, which offers anonymous peer support for Indigenous Canadians. The Burns Way is a modification of the original efforts.
MacBeth last year said that when he and his team learned Burns was a veteran, it was obvious that Burns encapsulated “the valour, the courage, the duty” that the app should be named for.
MacBeth said Burns’s family — specifically his wife, who survived the attack — has given their blessing for his name to be used for the app.
“Soldiers are a breed who know soldiers,” Thibeau said, noting the “strong connections” between those who have served.
“The Burns Way will draw on the unique perspectives and compassion of veterans who, through their shared experiences, are uniquely positioned to provide support.”
Those involved include the Royal Canadian Legion; Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones; Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans Association; Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations; Rainbow Veterans of Canada; Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada (ANAVETS); and Veterans’ House Canada.
TryCycle Data Systems is an Ottawa digital health software company that focuses on addiction and mental health apps.
The Burns Way app is designed to offer anonymity, no wait-list, support any hour of any day, and no chatbots or AI. Messages are to be automatically deleted after the chat ends, and users requiring immediate professional attention are to be invited to connect with a support leader through another platform, the app creators say.
Canada currently has more than 461,000 veterans; more than 90,000 of them are expected to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder, including depression, PTSD or anxiety.
According to TryCycle Data Systems, one in six active members of the Canadian Armed Forces reports symptoms of mental health challenges.
Information about the app, or the application form to be a veteran peer advocate, can be found at TheBurnsWay.ca.
— With Canadian Press files
