Excerpt from: Huffintonpost.ca By Jason MacNeil
November 13, 2014 – Cockburn also continues to lend his voice and name to causes he feels strongly about. Earlier this year, he became involved with the Collateral Damage Project, a cause concerning suicide rates among men in Native or First Nations communities. Cockburn was approached by the organization’s founder Scott Chisholm about bringing awareness to the organization and doing a Public Service Announcement regarding it.
For a long time when I was younger all the people I knew who died were suicides,” he says. “There weren’t that many, maybe half a dozen people I was acquainted with who killed themselves. I’m not sure if I totally agree with the negativity of suicide if you are a cancer victim or if you’re terminally ill with anything and looking forward to years of suffering. As long as it doesn’t come back on your family.
“The big problem with suicide is in all but those circumstances it’s a terribly selfish act. Some of that made it seem like something to get involved with. And, of course, in the Native communities where suicide is a huge social issue, not just a matter of individuals, it’s kind of epidemic. So there’s a real point to try to head it off in that setting too.”
