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Jonathan Blanchette has been missing since Thursday.

“If you have any information about Jonathan, I encourage you to contact the Gatineau police as soon as possible. We all hope that he is found alive and well very soon,” Frémont said.

Frémont pleaded with students to speak out if they are struggling, to check in with their peers who might be showing signs of distress and to use the mental health services on campus, which have been the subject of much scrutiny as the suicide toll continues to mount at the university.

“I know that at times this university can feel large and impersonal. But I want you to know that in reality it is filled with kind and caring people.”

The school has made “strides to try to meet the demand for the mental health services of our community,” he said.

A “campus action group” recently released several recommendations to improve health and wellness among students, staff and faculty. Many of those would be implemented in the “near future.”

More concretely, though, six additional mental health counsellors were hired to help the backlog of students waiting to get help. One was also hired for faculty and staff.

The university had already announced a task force on mental health, which will hold a town hall at the end of the month.

Frémont reiterated both his own and the university’s commitment to addressing student mental health needs “as comprehensively as possible on campus.”

But that commitment is continuing to sound like empty promises to a collective of students who are advocating for better mental health services on campus. The u0Collective 4 mental health has planned a sit-in outside of Frémont’s office for Wednesday morning to let the administration know they’ve had enough and to show solidarity with students who are struggling.