Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the people who are here today.
I just wanted to quickly comment, Mr. Chair, on something Dr. Bland said with regard to RCMP mental health training; I'm retired from the RCMP.
This is touched on at Depot in Regina, but the reality of the situation is that for most police officers across Canada, they're probably the first person to see someone with a mental health issue. To be quite blunt, they don't have the time. If they come across a situation, their job is to just hand it off to whoever it needs to get handed off to and get to the next call. They recognize that it's a significant issue, but it's not their job. It just isn't.
I'll leave it at that, because I have some questions I want to ask.
Our government established the Mental Health Commission of Canada to develop a mental health strategy. I understand that you people may be part of that. I was wondering if you could give some comments on that. It was a good first step, but how do we go from there?
Karen, perhaps you can start, and then Dr. Bland.