Richard and Shurenda, I want to thank you so much for coming to the committee today and for displaying what I think is a very high level courage to let this committee know of what was a very painful moment in both your lives. So thank you for that. I think this committee needs to hear more stories like that, and indeed this whole country does.
Sarah, I really appreciated your words on being humble. My riding sits on the traditional territories of the Cowichan people, and also the Malahat, the Lake Cowichan, and the Songhees and Esquimalt first nations, as part of the Coast Salish network on Vancouver Island. I have participated in a few events. One of them was called Understanding the Village, in which they walked the non-indigenous population through the process of colonization. At the beginning of that, it forced us to be humble to accept what we were about to experience.
Some witnesses have come to this committee and spoken about a national strategy on suicide. I know that national strategies may not always work because there are many different regions in Canada, but I wanted to hear a little bit more from the three of you on what you think some of the potential advantages and maybe disadvantages of implementing a national suicide prevention strategy would be.