Mr. Speaker, this past spring I encouraged hon. members to participate in the Mental Health Commission of Canada's program, 308 conversations about suicide prevention. I have been heartened by feedback from my colleagues saying how much they learned.
In Waterloo Region, all four members of Parliament united in conversation with teachers, coaches, first responders, funeral directors, members of the faith community and those with lived experience. More than 80 people devoted an entire morning to discussion of how we could do a better job preventing deaths by suicide.
That afternoon, I joined 29 others for training in safeTALK, enabling me to better identify vulnerable individuals experiencing thoughts of suicide and to connect them with appropriate resources. We spent the morning discussing the challenges and the afternoon learning solutions.
Thankfully, many Canadians are being trained in first aid techniques. We now need to go that extra mile and become trained in safeTALK. Together, we can deliver hope.