Thank you again, Mr. Chair.
I want to dive into a conversation about dental health for a second. In prefacing, I mentioned my son earlier. At 26, he has some teeth-grinding issues and things that really do impact him. The importance of dental care is not lost on me.
It's interesting that we wound up in this conversation where we're putting together a list of things facing kids. We're talking about dental and we're talking about mental health almost like equal things on the list. Certainly, governments can tackle multiple priorities at the same time. I do notice though that in the Liberal platform there was no mention of anything related to dental investment and a promise of $4.5 billion for a mental health transfer.
I do notice that of the witnesses who have come before the committee, almost none of them have talked about the dental crisis we have in Canada, but many have talked about the mental health crisis. Almost everybody has talked about the mental health crisis that we have in Canada.
I have a really straightforward question. In pediatric emergency rooms across the country, where is the most pressing need, if you were to compare the dental crisis in pediatric emergency rooms versus the mental health crisis in pediatric emergency rooms across the country?
I understand that we can certainly invest in both things, but you are folks who live in the real world where you're making decisions based on priority and triage every day.
Maybe, Dr. Drake, I'll go to you first and put you on the spot.