Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank everyone for being here today. I'm going to address my two and half minutes of questioning to Margaret Eaton of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Ms. Eaton, thank you very much. I really enjoyed your presentation today. Your mandate of mental health for all is wonderful. It would be a dream come true if we can achieve that mandate, because currently I truly believe that Canada severely lacks the capacity for mental health services, in particular in our addictions environment.
Ms. Eaton, you talked about your association and the help out there. It's far-reaching, 86 divisions and branches throughout Canada, 5,000 staff and 10,000 volunteers, reaching 330 communities. Your phones are currently ringing off the hook right now. Your demand has surged from 25 a day to 700 a day, as you mentioned.
My first question is that, of course, the 5,000 staff would be highly trained in dealing with these calls, but you mentioned 10,000 volunteers. What type of training do they have? Do they actually do the counselling in order to help someone who is perhaps at risk of suicidal tendencies? Can you talk a little more about the training of these people?