Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all of you.
We have a general idea of what is going on in the mental health field. There are people around us who are depressed or anxious. We go out a little bit, though, and we get phone calls in our constituency offices. This morning, I found that reality was hitting hard.
In the first wave, witnesses told us that the pandemic was highlighting what we didn't do well, which was working on the first determinant of health: prevention. Our shortcomings are now jumping out at us.
If we want to engage in positive promotion, we have the opportunity to get our act together and make things right. We are in the middle of the second wave, and we should have a clear signal.
All you need are resources; it's not just a matter of coordination. Over the last 25 years, funding for health care systems has really deteriorated. Where there were always cuts was in mental health prevention. Mental health has always been overlooked in health care systems.
I imagine that you will be calling loud and clear on the federal government to give a clear signal now to restore health care networks and rapidly increase health transfers. There needs to be some catching up in this regard.
Please feel free to say so. This isn't playing politics. In our constitutional framework, the people who provide care are in the territories, in the provinces, in Quebec. These people have to be able to plan things.
Ms. Hetherington, you have great ideas, but it takes money to make them happen. Do you agree with me that the government should announce today, in its economic update, that it will significantly increase health transfers? It doesn't make sense anymore.
Who wants to respond to my remarks?