Status of Women committee  Absolutely. I think it would be best to have a clinician who knows the community very well and who is able to respond to the needs based on their own lived experience of being in that community. If we're able to provide opportunities to give that training to those folks so they're then able to return to the community, I think that is the best way to do it, but that doesn't solve the issues right now.

Status of Women committee  I would agree. There are projects in British Columbia like Take a Hike that are ready, and they need funding right now. Take a Hike, for the last 22 years, has been funded almost entirely by philanthropy. Last year we received about $150,000 of non-COVID-related government funding.

Status of Women committee  For Take a Hike, we look at recruiting registered clinical counsellors to be mental health clinicians in our programs. We really encourage the government to invest in training programs for those folks. We have a very difficult time recruiting clinicians. I'm thinking about the attempt to recruit a clinician in Merritt right now.

Status of Women committee  Exactly. We have had an opportunity to meet with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Right now we're experiencing an incredible amount of support from the federal government, but we're concerned about the jurisdictional issues. Because we offer a mental health program that's embedded in schools, there's this concern about how that should be the mandate of the school system.

Status of Women committee  Yes, schools are a phenomenal place to provide that early intervention and prevention support for vulnerable youth. I'm thinking about many of the programs that we see here in B.C., and we're seeing it right across the country and throughout North America, in fact. They're teaching social and emotional learning.

Status of Women committee  Thank you so much. Take a Hike operates in partnership with public schools, and public schools have a very unique and interesting view into the lives of the youth they serve. What we find is that schools are full of caring adults who are really looking out for the mental health of young women and girls and all the youth they serve.

Status of Women committee  We're finding that many among the youth we're working with are really questioning their gender identity, and they need a safe place where they're able to explore that gender identity. What we're finding is that some days they may identify as male and other days they may choose to identify as female.

Status of Women committee  'Uy' skweyul siem. It means “Good day, respected ones” in Hul'q'umi'num. My name is Gordon Matchett and I use the he/them pronouns. Today I'm Zooming in from downtown Vancouver. I'm surrounded by the beauty of the Salish Sea and the North Shore mountains. It's the traditional home of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh people since time immemorial.