Health Canada staffer dies suddenly

barrietoday.com

Adam Exton was a Liberal staffer working as the Director of Parliamentary Affairs at Health Canada at the time of his tragic passing.

The obituary for Exton details that he was 35 at the time of his death:

“As a young person, Adam became actively involved in politics and had a passion for public service and volunteering in the community. In 2012, Adam won the Ontario Young Liberal Volunteer of the Year Award. He received a degree in political science from the University of Toronto. Adam spent many years working at various levels of government, eventually holding the position of Director of Parliamentary Affairs at Health Canada. During the challenging times of the pandemic, Adam was part of the leadership team that led Canada's health response to COVID-19. He was a talented and respected campaign manager that was instrumental in helping to bring cabinet ministers and members to Queens Park and Ottawa. Adam always did and will continue to make his family extremely proud of who he was and his service to his community and country.”

Exton, as part of the leadership team that led Canada’s COVID-19 response, was instrumental in instituting vaccine passports on a federal level. However, Exton may have been struggling with his own health. The obituary further reads that “In memory of Adam, donations can be made to the CMHA, an organization that was very important to him.”

CHMA, Canadian Mental Health Association, is a nationwide organization that promotes mental health and supports people recovering from mental illness.

As early as September 2020, the CMHA urged the federal government to respond to the “echo pandemic” that was showing “extreme national anxiety with mental health effects like nothing we have seen before.”