First of all, as it relates to the coordination with the Mental Health Commission, I've been in dialogue with them at various points along the journey. Certainly all of us around this table applaud the work they're doing. There's no sense of competition or of one getting ahead of the other. This is simply my effort as a parliamentarian to draw specific attention to the area of suicide prevention.
Dr. Goldbloom mentioned that 90% of suicides, generally speaking, are related to issues of mental health. But we all know that there is a small percentage of people who end their lives by suicide, where there does not appear to have been any history of mental health issues.
I'm very specific on the public health aspect as well. We need, as has been mentioned, front-line training for those who are on the front line. My initiative is simply to boost and share my passion for suicide prevention in the context of the overall Mental Health Commission's report. In my dialogue with them I'm very satisfied that they are in fact doing that. I met with them probably a month or two ago, and they went over some of their initiatives. It's quite encouraging to see their specific emphasis on suicide prevention.
As it relates to the access by groups to the information that may be available, my idea is not to have a top-down, mandated, “this is the way you have to do it” suicide prevention. My idea is to have a central repository of information, research, statistics, and best practices that communities such as Waterloo or Iqaluit, or you name the community in Canada, can contextualize the general principles that apply to their specific area. But obviously, they need to contextualize it in their own area and access the resources that are there.
But I defer to my experts.