Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you for everyone's testimony today.
I want to start with you, Ms. Shields. It's good to see you again.
I had a phone conversation a couple of days ago with a constituent who called. It was a 19-year-old girl who was very upset. Her 20-year-old brother had committed suicide a few weeks ago. He was an apprenticing electrician who was laid off as a result of lockdowns. He had found a job in a restaurant, but lost that when lockdowns were extended. The isolation got the best of him. He couldn't handle the depression and he took his life.
I know that many of us in this Zoom meeting, as members, have had similar conversations with constituents. This is becoming an all-too-common occurrence with many of us—having these types of calls to our offices from people who are completely distraught. This suicide has certainly devastated this family.
I had a virtual town hall with a lot of business owners and community leaders with similar stories of depression, anxiety and suicides.
We spoke late last year. You were mentioning a recent study in December that showed that 40% of Canadians had said their mental health had deteriorated. We saw the numbers of the substance abuse and suicides up. That was in December.
You've talked about a mental health third and fourth wave. I've never heard it put that way, but that's very disconcerting. As these lockdowns and restrictions go on, what do you anticipate the impact is going to be on Canadians' mental health?