Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members. It is lovely to be back with you again at the HESA committee.
Since being named minister, and even prior to that time, my priority has been to ensure that Canadians have access to the mental health and substance use services they need, both when they need them and where they need them.
In recent weeks, I've been meeting with young people and their families across the country to talk about mental health. They have shared their stories with me and spoken poignantly about the challenges young people face today. I have also spoken with mental health practitioners, researchers and service providers. They have offered valuable insights into how we can work together to better support youth as they navigate the transition to adulthood.
With the new youth mental health fund, our government is investing $500 million over five years to enhance youth access to mental health care. This fund will help community organizations provide more care options for youth that are timely and accessible. It will help broaden our support network and better equip organizations to refer youth to other mental health services within their networks and partnerships.
Community organizations are a lifeline when it comes to mental health care. They provide direct support to people in need. They are trusted by the people they serve. They have first-hand knowledge, which is much needed to make a real difference, especially among equity-deserving groups and youth.
It is so important for us to remember what it means to be Canadian right now. We hold each other together. We are holding each other through many challenging things right now, including the lives tragically lost through the overdose crisis. This is where we step up and throw everything we have in our tool box at saving lives.
On the other side of the bench, unfortunately, there is much stigmatization. They talk about the overdose crisis in terms of our loved ones being criminals. They want to stigmatize our loved ones back into the dark corners and criminalize them. People should not have to hide their struggle with substance use and the disease of addiction. This is the ideology of the failed war on drugs. We cannot go back to that way of thinking.
We know that needle exchanges and safe consumption sites bring people into health care. It gives them another day, a day towards living and thriving. They walk into those places knowing that they will get the help they need. We're not just talking about saving lives. We're talking about getting people the health services they need with the compassion and care that they deserve.
Last September we launched a national call for proposals under Health Canada's substance use and addictions program. This program supports community-based organizations in delivering innovative prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and other evidence-based health interventions. Our $144-million investment in SUAP is an important part of a comprehensive response to problematic substance use.
We are also investing more than $20 million in a new youth substance use prevention program. This program will support the implementation and adaptation of the Icelandic prevention model right here in Canada, a model that has been highlighted multiple times in studies from this committee.
In addition, budget 2024 includes $150 million over three years for a new emergency treatment fund. This fund is designed to meet urgent needs on the front lines by providing support for municipalities and indigenous communities facing an acute increase in substance use harms and deaths related to the overdose crisis.
Mr. Chair, we are stepping up and looking at all options, but we cannot do this work in isolation. We recognize that it's incumbent on the provinces and territories, as the main health care service providers, to identify their needs and their priorities. Our historic investment of close to $200 billion over 10 years will improve health services across the country, with $25 billion being provided through tailored bilateral agreements. This funding will help integrate mental health and substance use services as a full and equal part of our universal health care system.
So far, more than a third of the bilateral funding has been allocated to mental health and substance use services. This is good news. It will strengthen the capacity of family health care providers to offer mental health and substance use support to patients all across the country. This is essential, because mental health and substance use care should never be an afterthought. Our mental health and well-being are integral to who we are, and the health care system must reflect this.
The Government of Canada will continue to work with its partners to ensure that mental health and substance use services are built into the very foundations of that system. With a strong foundation in place, Canadians can count on having access to a full range of high-quality, culturally informed, timely health care services that are accessible to them. This is what they expect, and they deserve nothing less.
Thank you.
I'm now happy to answer your questions.
