Robert Hawkins

At this particular time I don’t have anything further in this area. Thank you.

Excellent. All those years of yoga are paying off. First off I’m going to say it’s nice to see the money continue. I don’t see the money really elevating a little bit. Yes, there is more money than last year, which looks like it was taken up at $329,000. Interestingly enough, I notice the Disabilities Council in the Yukon is losing all their funding from the Yukon government, but their funding was twice as much than we offer here today, a little more than twice as much.

The reason I highlight the disabilities funding is I’m a little unsure that there’s enough there to do the work that they...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just wondering if we could get a bit of a breakdown of the disabilities funding, how much it is. I see the indicator here at $335,000, but what the breakdown specifically is and what program areas are they targeting in their support. Thank you.

I’m not in a position to say that that lady, Karen Lander, a few years ago the outcome would have been different in her particular circumstances, but what I can say is it might have been a different situation that led to those circumstances. Whether it would have come up with the same end, I don’t know. But I can tell you that if we consider it ourselves for a very quick moment, that if we made a small amendment to the act that it could be varied, many Ministers have the authority to vary certain decisions and this could be certainly one of them. This could be a real opportunity if the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple small things here as I begin. As I mentioned at the beginning of my statement today, I said one in five Canadians experience mental health problems. The second thing I’d like to acknowledge the great courage of the Duchess of Cambridge who has come here recently in public support of people becoming more aware and helping fight the stigma of mental health. I think people like that show true leadership. They are tremendous people that step forward and help put a face on this fight, and it makes a big difference for those suffering with it because they do feel...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In any given year, one in five Canadians experience mental health problems. The cost to the economy, of course, is enormous at $50 billion. On average, one in three adults and one in four children or youth report that they have only sought help or assistance through treatment programs.

Four thousand Canadians die every year as a result of suicide. These are terrible statistics, but I’m going to go on. Up to 70 percent of adults living with mental health problems report the symptoms started during childhood. In 2010, mental health conditions were responsible for 47...

Thank you. Could I have the Minister restate that last title under MACA, the access fund? I heard two people talking at the same time and they sounded like they were disagreeing. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. The reasons I was just citing more specifically are grants and contributions fall under 197, but the detail of it is actually on the next page. So I can save the rest of my questions for the next page. What would you like me to do, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have no doubt that every one of the 19 Members in this Assembly ran in here with a can-do attitude about trying to do things. I would ask the Minister, is there any reason he here today can stand by and say I will not try this? Would he be willing to at least take this idea to a legal advisor who writes legislation to take a look at this particular scenario?

I’m going to disagree and I’ll allow the Minister to correct it for the record, but I’m not sure how he doesn’t see it a year away, because if it doesn’t come for a draft tabled before the House, it doesn’t come before the House before the fall of this year, that means the next Assembly won’t have a chance to review it, update it, take it out to public consultation, and they’d be lucky to see it back before February.

The reason I ask for a small amendment that would allow to vary it is that they could work with the committee, and certainly driven by the family, we could find a way to deal with...