Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the deputy minister and the other health officials who have come to this committee today to present.
I'm very pleased with the $27 million mental health initiative that was recently announced by our government to address programs for youth at a higher risk of developing mental health problems because of their socio-economic status. As you know, 3.2 million youth in this country are at risk of depressive episodes, episodes that clearly take them out of school and put them in at-risk situations because of this mental health epidemic, I would say, that's beginning to grow in Canada. I know Senator Ogilvie has put together a caucus on depression and mental health to examine and research the different aspects of it, and many of our top doctors in this country are examining this very suppressive kind of problem that is happening among our youth. The 12-year-old to 19-year-old youth in this country are the ones who are suffering from this depression.
I noticed also in the estimates that there are moneys for programs around Inuit and first nations communities to support people and youngsters who were an indirect or direct result of the residential schools. I know now they're older, but they're children of parents who had that experience, so it has a domino effect.
Could the officials please elaborate on this newly announced initiative and how the networks connect between at-risk youth and aboriginal and Inuit youth, and how our government is addressing that? I think this is relatively new on the public radar screen. I think it's prudent to have some focus on that spotlight.