Thank you, Chair.
Dr. Maté, my riding is Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam in the Lower Mainland. As a Lower Mainland resident, I'm well aware of your long advocacy and as a force for good in this area, so I'd like to welcome you in particular for joining us today. I particularly appreciate your insight and clarity of testimony.
I note that our government has invested $5 billion in budget 2017 to provide mental health support, including for 500,000 people under 25. This goes to prevention, I would suggest to you. In your model that you propose for addiction, many of the underlying causes are psychological and psychiatric problems. I would ask if you think that significant funding for mental wellness programs and funding for early diagnosis of mental illness conditions would be worth doing, and whether it's an effective prevention mechanism.