Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses for being here today.
Ms. McBain, I'll start with you if that's okay. I certainly appreciate your sharing your personal story. Sometimes it's beneficial when we don't have academics but people who have lived experience, and I know, unfortunately, that too many of us have lost friends or relatives as a result of the opioid crisis, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Certainly we've seen the numbers, as a result of lockdowns and restrictions, and the use of substances and opioid deaths and suicides increase dramatically over the last year. In my province of Alberta we had the second-highest number of suicides in the country ever over the last six months.
Would it help to have a one-stop, single 988 suicide hotline manned by mental health experts? It's something we don't have in Canada right now. Currently we have a different system in every province. Many times when people call they get an answering machine or a recorded message. What kind of a difference would it make? It could be a quick and easy step, a 988 suicide hotline manned by mental health experts. What kind of a difference would that make?