Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Thank you, senator. What a wonderful idea. I feel as though you must have been talking with Minister Bennett, who talks about when she was a family physician and would often prescribe moments of family closeness to her patients, or perhaps going to the movies or something like that.

I am working closely with Minister Bennett and providing some input into the mental health strategy that we’re putting forward. My particular focus is children’s mental health. I recently met with the Canadian Mental Health Association and spoke specifically about the mental health of children and youth.

As you rightly point out, there are many different ways to support this: our more clinical interventions or our interventions that provide that pastime and the ability to do different things that may provoke imagination and creativity. Certainly, I will look more into that, knowing we need to support the diverse and broad array of mental health challenges that children, in particular, are experiencing right now.