Mr. Speaker, May 1 to 7 is Mental Health Week. In honour of that, last week I held a mental health forum in my riding and heard from local service providers and speakers, including Jacob Hartley Rosser, a youth mental health advocate, and CAMH.
The statistics for youth are staggering. Symptoms for common mental health problems and illnesses can begin as early as four years of age, and a reported 1.2 million children and youth under the age of 19 live with mental health challenges. It is also worth pointing out that it is a proven fact that dealing with these issues early can save 25% in health care costs per person down the road.
The first step in dealing with this is for people to speak out. I had the honour to make a mental health awareness video with Jacob and the Hon. Michael Wilson, chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, to do just that, to encourage people to speak out and to #GetLoud. It was a moving experience and a touching video. It is now available online for everybody to see. I encourage people to do so.