Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is on mental health in the small communities. A lot of people are hurting from depression with all the deaths that we have been having over the last year, with the bullying, and it all comes into a cycle. We have to step up as a government, Mr. Speaker. I asked a couple of weeks ago. How I used to do it with the youth: I used to travel, and I would bring a professional hockey instructor or someone to come into the community. We would go to the school and do school talks, and you would feed them. You are there for three or four days, but we would do that three times a year, and then you never come back. For our adults, we need help in regard to sharing circles, to bringing people in, professionals who could listen, who could help them in regard to the hurt that has been passed on through residential schools and all that.

As an Aboriginal person, going to residential school myself, I hang on to that sometimes, and I do not use it as a crutch, though. I use it to push myself forward. I try to look at things in a positive light and try to help. With adults, again, getting teams brought in with some specialists with regard to being able to hear people's concerns and try to fix the problem and bringing them in for two or three times a year, maybe four times if it's possible, to the community, having someone there to let them know that they are not alone and we are listening to them, our government has to step up in regard to that. They have been doing a lot of good work, the teams that I see who are going around with the needles and the planes. They should be doing that now with people, bringing people to deal and cope with all the stuff that communities are dealing with.

We are having a tough time, Mr. Speaker. The communities I represent need help in regard to this, and I plan to be using that once we are able to start bringing people out into the communities, when we are accepted to come and help them. We have to look at this, as an Assembly, at the people you all represent and have to step up and ask their MLA for help in regard to doing something like this. I look forward to talking to the Minister of health at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.