Mr. Speaker, last week from October 13 to 19, Canadians marked National Mental Illness Awareness Week.
One out of five Canadians or six million people will suffer from a mental illness at some point in his or her life. For example, schizophrenia alone affects one in every 100 Canadians.
The cost of mental illness to society is high in terms of impact on health care requirements, loss of productivity and on the individuals it affects.
This year's theme Mental Illness, Teamwork in Service Delivery highlights the role that all of us can play in destigmatizing mental illness. Through public education and awareness we can work to achieve this goal.
I would ask that all my colleagues work to promote mental illness awareness in their constituencies.