I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 17 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The committee is meeting as part of its study on suicide prevention among veterans.
Before we welcome our witnesses, for people who are viewing I would like to provide a trigger warning. We will be discussing experiences related to suicide and grief. This may be triggering to viewers with similar experiences.
For members of Parliament, it is important to recognize that these are difficult discussions.
Also, for our witnesses, if you do not feel comfortable at any point, please let us know. We can pause our committee for you.
To ensure that the meeting goes smoothly, I would like to outline a few rules for the witnesses and members.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. Please mute your mic when you are not speaking.
For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation: floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.
A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
I will now introduce our witnesses: as an individual, Mr. James Grant, emergency medical responder; and from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Dr. Allison Crawford, psychiatrist and chief medical officer for 988, the suicide crisis helpline, who is joining us through video conference. From the Veteran Hunters Canada, we have Mr. Todd Hisey, chief executive officer and founder; and from the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, Dr. Shelly Whitman, executive director, and Kathryn Reeves.
Each witness and each organization represented at this meeting will be given five minutes for delivering their opening remarks. Once all witnesses have spoken, we will proceed to a round of questions with the members of the committee.
Mr. James Grant, the floor is yours for five minutes.