It's good to see you, Mr. Casey. It's really good to be here.
Thanks so much to the witnesses for your important work. I was listening to you on my way over to replace Mr. Davies, and I really appreciate it.
What I really want to speak about is how, in Ontario, there are 28,000 children on wait-lists for community-based mental health. These waits can range from 67 days to more than two and a half years, depending on the service. That exceeds clinically appropriate wait times.
For children and youth, delays in accessing care—and I'm sure you can speak to it—can have lifelong impacts for them, their families and society. Tragically, it can be a matter of life and death. You talked a bit about UNICEF. According to StatsCan, suicide is the leading cause of death among youth and young adults aged 15 to 34. UNICEF has reported that Canada has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world.
We've been waiting for two years for the government's promised $4.5-billion mental health transfer, which clearly is not even enough.
Can you speak about the impact of the delay in that mental health transfer on youth?
Maybe I'll start with you, Ms. Bisaillon, if you want to speak a bit about that.