Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about suicide. Just by saying this, I feel that I'm doing something I shouldn't. Growing up in the North my entire life, I've seen and heard of many suicides. What I never did was talk about it after a loss or be given the tools on what to do or how to talk about suicide after it happens. We seem to try to move on and then it happens again. The families or those close to the ones who lost to suicide never get over the loss of their loved one. Sometimes we think we didn't do something, and we didn't do enough. We ask ourselves, what could have I have done? The thing is there are so many social and cultural factors that contribute to death by suicide as well as underlying mental health conditions, addictions, and asking for help can be extremely difficult for those, as mental health is not looked at the same way as physical health.
Mr. Speaker, this was part of my Member's statement from February 28, 2020, long before we even knew what COVID was going to do to us, long before we closed down the world to COVID. And since then, it's only gotten worse in our territory.
Mr. Speaker, the most recent suicide rates just released say that in 2022, as the Minister stated, by the end of August, that's the third quarter, we have lost 18 residents. This is almost double than in the entire year of 2021. And since that quarterly report, in my region we have buried more, more young people in my region. It also shows that it's the highest in my region. It went from one to seven deaths since then. Most are male between 20 and 29. I want to help them. I want us to help them. How do we reach them? I'm at a loss, Mr. Speaker. As an MLA, what can I do? As a mother, as a friend, as an aunty, as a member of my community, what can I do?
We have our Aboriginal organizations, and they're trying to work on this to assist to come up with plans to prevent this because we see it; we see it in our lives every day in our own communities. We have GNWT trying to assist families in communities, but we continue to lose more, more people to suicide, Mr. Speaker. My heart goes out to all those families that are suffering from a loss and those who are suffering with depression or addictions. Please talk to somebody. You are loved. You are important.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Health.