Health committee  Well, that's not my area of expertise, but I think we've certainly seen increases in the use of substances, particularly for people who may already have had concerns or issues with the use of substances. I would say that this kind of care, those kinds of interventions, both for mental health problems and substance use need more investment, and we need to invest in them with parity, the way we provide care for physical health problems.

Health committee  That's a great question. One of the things I mentioned in my opening remarks is that we came together on a paper with our provincial psychological association partners to suggest how a federal mental health transfer could be invested in the provinces. We strongly support the integration of mental health services and psychological services into primary care.

Health committee  Thank you. I would agree entirely with Ms. Eaton that there certainly is evidence that for certain problems, care delivered virtually can be as efficacious as person-to-person care, but there are still huge inequities in people having access to not just technology but also the personal and private space to have that kind of care.

Health committee  I think that any care we can offer people in distress is a good thing, but we have to be able to provide that follow-up care. Emergency response lines are important, but what's more important is the care that's delivered behind them. By and large, there aren't many mental health problems where there's a single session and it's resolved.

Health committee  Well, for many psychosocial reasons, calling anyone names is not useful.

Health committee  I think one of the key messages for some of the research that looks into why people are hesitant to get vaccines is that there's not a single reason. Dr. Lavoie's research suggests that there are a few categories of people who resist vaccines. It might be that some folks need more information.

Health committee  Thank you very much for the invitation to appear before you today. The psychological factors implicated in the COVID-19 global pandemic are several. First, successful management of health and illness depends on how people think, feel and behave as individuals and in groups. Wearing masks, keeping physically distant and getting vaccinated all involve making decisions and changing behaviour.

Agriculture committee  I think one of the challenges when it comes to mental health is that we talk about it as if it's a solitary phenomenon and a solitary issue, and it isn't, of course. There are any number of issues that people face. They have different predispositions to different kinds of problems.

Agriculture committee  Good morning. The Canadian Psychological Association, the CPA, is the national association for the science, practice and education of psychology in Canada. Thank you very much for inviting us to speak to you today about the mental health of one of Canada's vitally important communities.

Justice committee  I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to advise on that, because we would not be involved in making that determination.

Justice committee  We haven't systematically taken a patient through it either. Our role as psychologists is probably going to be a lot more circumscribed than the role of our colleagues who are physicians and pharmacists. I think our recommendations really embody our concern that considerable time and attention can and should be expended, way before any kind of decision is enacted.

Justice committee  It's going to vary a fair bit on the conditions. Dr. Lemire used the example of multiple sclerosis. I worked as a rehab psychologist for many years with people who have acquired conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord, like MS. One of its hallmarks is its course can be very unpredictable, so it may be very difficult to say when someone who has motor problems primarily as a result of their MS then acquires cognitive ones.

Justice committee  Health care delivery across the country is not always consistent, so it might be hard to imagine the challenges in having this consistent as well.

Justice committee  Exactly. The point of our recommendation was that any regulated health provider should be able to assess whether in fact the condition is present. I think the more complex assessment is going to be whether that condition would impact the person's capacity to give consent. There may certainly be instances, in the case of mental disorders or cognitive deterioration, in which you might need more specialized training to make that determination.

Justice committee  I certainly can't speak for the practice of every regulated health provider, and it certainly would be the case, as I'm sure Dr. Lemire could confirm, that even different family physicians would have different sub-expertise or capacity. This is why we recommended that the assessment of these complex concomitants involving cognitive or psychological disorders should fall within someone's scope.