Certainly. Thanks, MP Shipley.
We would concur that there's an opportunity for this committee to recommend a larger dialogue and discussion with CMHA and our mental health partners. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has had a long-standing partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association, but we can look to a new opportunity and a new framework for how we triage mental health in our communities: How do they come into our 911 system? What role do paramedics and/or mental health agencies play?
There's a whole opportunity for us, similar to the policy that we, the Canadian chiefs, released last month around diverting even simple possession of drugs. We're criminalizing addictions. We're criminalizing homelessness. We're criminalizing many issues that should be diverted elsewhere within a public health-led model.