Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for coming here this morning.
Harold, I would like to congratulate you and thank you for your initiative.
With regard to how serious the issue of suicide is, I don't think there's anybody in this room who doesn't know someone who has committed suicide. I don't have any statistics on it, but even in my experience—I don't have anybody in my immediate family, but I had cousins who committed suicide. I had a school friend who fell victim to mental illness, and before he reached the age of 30 he committed suicide. The signs were there. He was watched by the family, and eventually he found a way to end his life.
We have a lot of people around the table who have a lot of knowledge and experience in the medical field. My professional background is in engineering, but I have a lifetime of experience. Harold mentioned that 90% of suicide cases are related to mental health. Well in my view, probably 100% of the cases are related to mental state, or the state of mind at the moment a person decides to take that action and end his or her life. Whether some cases are preventable or detectable is a question we can ask. In some cases there are no signs, and therefore preventing people from committing suicide in such cases is very difficult.
My first question is to Harold.
In your comments, Harold, you acknowledge the journey to introduce Bill C-300. I notice in the first point of the preamble that you take note of the spiritual aspect of suicide prevention. You didn't touch on this in your comments. I'm curious. Can you tell us more about what you meant?