Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the minister and his officials for coming to the committee today.
I think I'll follow up on some of the themes that the Bloc brought up.
Minister, our government has announced the Mental Health Commission and a national anti-drug strategy, and they seem to have some crossover at some level. As you know, we committed $110 million over five years to the Mental Health Commission to study the most effective ways to address mental health and homelessness. The commission was set up to research projects on housing and other types of supports in major centres like Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Moncton.
My first question is what does the government hope will be achieved by the Mental Health Commission as they undertake their research in areas of homelessness, mental health, and addiction? I'd also like to ask how it fits in with the national drug strategy. Our government announced $64.3 million over two years, and that strategy is designed to reduce and prevent the use of illicit drugs, particularly among youth and aboriginal peoples, treating those drug dependencies and combatting the illicit production and distribution of drugs.
As you are aware, Minister, there have been many questions from both the media and members of Parliament about what the government is doing on the illicit drugs in Canada, particularly in Vancouver's downtown east side. What is being done to address illicit drug use across Canada in these vulnerable communities, and how does it tie in with the Mental Health Commission. Or is there a tie-in? There may not be.