Thank you.
Thank you for your presentations. I certainly can relate to a lot of what you're saying. I'm from the Northwest Territories.
We've been on this study for some time now on the issue of suicide, and it's still shocking to hear the number of people who are attempting to take their lives. It's still shocking to hear the level of despair that's in our communities. I often wonder if it would be in order, to bring more attention to the issue, for us to collaborate and start putting the numbers out there on a national level. But I'm always advised by people who are professionals or in that field that this may lead to copycats. A lot of people might start to mirror what's happening in some of the communities.
In Nunavut, as Hunter can attest, we had 28 suicides over the summer. I had a suicide last weekend in my community. Labrador has had eight since November. So the crisis is not slowing down, the crisis is actually escalating, and it's very concerning.
We heard in other testimonies many of the comments that you have made. I certainly agree that the oppression that the aboriginal people have suffered over the last 150 years is at the root of what is happening in our communities. We certainly need to start looking at becoming self-governing. My observation has been that communities that are self-governing seem to do the best. But there are other issues in our communities, including cultural disconnect and abuse. I was home last weekend. I witness a lot of violence in my community—I'm probably one of the few people who still live in a small aboriginal community, as an MP—and a lot of it is as a result of the residential school trauma, which I suffered.
The question I have is around trauma, and more specifically sexual abuse. I didn't hear you mention sexual abuse, but we have issues in our communities. Residential school, lack of housing—a lot of things lead to sexual abuse. I wanted to know if that's something you would attribute to some of the causes of the current levels of despair and suicide.
Maybe you could both spend a few minutes talking about it.