A lifelong advocate for mental health and community well-being in Manitoba was honoured with one of the country’s most distinguished recognitions.
Bill Martin, former executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), received the King Charles III Coronation Medal during CMHA’s annual general meeting on June 5 in Winnipeg. The award recognizes Martin’s decades of service, leadership and visionary advocacy that helped reshape the landscape of mental health care in Manitoba.
Martin, who has lived in Gimli for the past 19 years, spent more than 20 years with CMHA, where he led the Winnipeg Region before guiding its expansion into rural communities including the Interlake, Brandon, Thompson, Steinbach and Portage la Prairie.
“When I first started, people didn’t really talk about mental health,” said Martin. “There was a lot of stigma, and services were few and far between — especially outside the city. We believed that support needed to be close to home, rooted in community.”
Martin was instrumental in launching the Farm and Rural Stress Line, a 24-hour telephone support service that offered help to rural Manitobans grappling with financial stress, isolation and mental health challenges. He also worked to bring voices of lived experience to the forefront through participant advisory committees and public campaigns during Mental Health Week.
“Our framework was simple but powerful,” he said. “Everyone needs housing, health care, respect, justice and connection. And those with mental illness need those things even more.”
Originally from Cadillac, Sask., Martin began his career in education after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan and completing postgraduate studies in adult education. His early experience with rural youth through 4-H — eventually becoming Chief of the 4-H program in Manitoba — sparked a lifelong interest in community development and grassroots organizing.
A turning point came during his work in adult education, when a conversation about community services steered him toward advocacy and mental health. He joined CMHA in the early 1980s and remained a leading voice in the field until his retirement.
Martin’s expertise was also called upon by government. In the late 1990s, he was seconded to serve as Special Adviser on Mental Health to then–Health Minister Dave Chomiak, where he helped shape provincial policy and promote systemic improvements.
Even in retirement, Martin has stayed active. Now 82, he remains involved with Gimli’s Rotary Club.
He also participates in Seniors Reaching Out, a new grassroots organization forming to foster intergenerational dialogue through building connections between youth, families and seniors.
“We want to build hope and strengthen our community by coming together,” said Martin. “That’s the real work — bringing people together across generations and backgrounds.”
Martin said the medal was a surprise and described himself as “delighted and humbled” to receive the honour. It’s a full-circle moment, he added, recalling how he received a Queen Elizabeth II coronation certificate as a schoolboy in 1953.
“I still remember it clearly — we all got them in school back in Cadillac,” he said. “Now, 72 years later, I’m receiving a coronation medal myself. It’s deeply meaningful.”
For Martin, the recognition is not just personal. He credits volunteers, staff, board members and especially CMHA participants for building the foundation of progress over the years.
“I believe the people with the most severe mental illnesses are the biggest heroes in the world,” he said. “They carry on despite tremendous difficulty. This honour is for them too.”
Martin often describes his life’s work as “soul work,” a phrase he shares with his grandchildren to remind them of the deeper connections that bind people together.
“We are a soul, and we have a body,” he said. “Mental health work is about helping people reconnect to who they really are. And the truth is, none of us can do it alone.”
Martin plans to attend the medal ceremony with his wife, Sharon, and close friends — marking not just a personal milestone, but a tribute to a lifetime of service, solidarity and quiet, determined leadership.
