Thank you.
The reason I asked is that in some ways when we look at a study like this I think we're talking about water being wet. We know it's complex. We know there are incredible social determinants involved, including poverty, lack of housing, lack of employment, the impact of colonization if we're talking about first nations, trauma, lack of treatment facilities, regional differences, and the fact that our health care system does not pay for physiotherapy, chiropractic, or counselling. You can go to a doctor if you're sick and get a prescription for a pill and go get that paid for, but if you are directed to a psychologist, you can't get three or four sessions, which may be more a appropriate angle of good care.
By the way, I noted that at the AFN assembly in Ottawa in 2011 a resolution was passed to support the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne's declaration of a state of crisis due to the community's alarming rate of substance abuse. Five years ago, it urged the federal and provincial governments to identify funds and resources for community-based programming and services. In 2012, the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly directed the National Chief and executive committee to urge the federal government to develop and fund a first nations opiate recovery and prevention strategy. That was four years ago. We have been calling for these programs and responses for years. It just doesn't happen.
My last question to you is going to give each of you an opportunity to follow up on Dr. Carrie's question. To get a resolution, what is a suggestion you have that the federal government should take? If you were the Minister of Health, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, or the Prime Minister, what would you be directing right now to help us deal with addictions to opioids and other drugs in this country, in first nations communities and otherwise?