Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada recognizes that suicide among aboriginal young people is an urgent matter. We also recognize that a federal strategy for suicide prevention in the north would require the full co-operation of the territorial governments since most activities would unfold within their jurisdictions.
While we recognize this is urgent, I want to highlight that in budget 2010 the government invested $75 million to extend the national aboriginal youth suicide prevention strategy to 2015. That is a $10 million increase over previous investments.
As I mentioned in my earlier comments, Health Canada has provided nearly $15 million in the last year to the government of Nunavut, $12 million to the government of the Northwest Territories and $1.9 million to the Yukon first nations to support health promotion activities in the territories and to maintain and improve the well-being of the people, which includes mental health. This is bringing together organizations and those governments to address the issue of suicide in the north.