Thank you. I think with respect to the role of the different levels of government, and in particular the role of the federal government, the commission was set up to be able to work with all levels of government and to address some of the complex jurisdictional issues that arise, especially in areas with respect to indigenous populations in this country. Mike was referring to on reserve and off reserve, where needs for services cross jurisdictional boundaries and people have a great deal of difficulty finding the appropriate places for them to have service.
It's premature for us to be able to say specifically the one central measure we would recommend, but we have tried to begin a process of engaging with people from the different indigenous communities and listening very carefully to what they have to say. The commission has a first nations, Inuit, and Métis advisory committee. In particular, they have encouraged us to adopt what they call a perspective that would allow people to be treated in an environment of cultural safety, where we take into account not only the linguistic or cultural requirements but that we acknowledge with them the whole environment—the socio-economic and political environment—to be able to establish partnerships that will enable people to get the kind of care they need to enable them to heal and get better at confronting mental health challenges that are particular to their situations.
Our first step has been to try to listen as carefully as possible to understand the reality. Part of our cross-country visits with respect to our document took us to the north. We were in Iqaluit and Yellowknife, and I can tell you this was my first opportunity to visit those parts of the country. The challenges there are enormous. When we talk about the inadequacies of the system in the south and in the more populated regions of the country, I'm sure you know as well as we do that the challenges in the north are starting from next to zero, where services are simply not available.
We have to have realistic expectations about what can be accomplished. At the same time, the challenge is absolutely immense, and we are committed to working with the indigenous populations to work through how to move forward on this front.