My question is for the Solicitor General. I first want to take a minute and thank the courageous and dedicated police officers from the Waterloo Regional Police Service. Every day, these men and women put their lives on the line for our community, not only in Waterloo region but across the province.

Minister, just recently, Waterloo region police chief Mark Crowell stated that his officers respond to a minimum of 3,000 mental health calls annually. According to a report by Waterloo region police, their officers attend about nine to 10 mental health calls and five to six attempted suicides each day. These calls represent complex issues, Mr. Speaker, and our officers need the appropriate tools to support and address them. Through you to the minister, what is our government doing to help our officers appropriately respond to these types of calls?

I did want to just highlight a couple of more things that Chief Crowell has mentioned. He further indicated that a different approach for police officers to respond appropriately to mental health issues is needed. Chief Crowell stated that “if we can find any ways to off-board the call to an alternative response, whether it’s a non-police response [or] a follow-up from a mental health professional, that’s” the direction “where we want to go.” The chief also stated that there’s still room for improvement, with the police service aiming for greater alternative service deliveries.

Through you again, Mr. Speaker: How is our government supporting our front-line officers in responding to the increasing number of mental health-related calls?

I know they’ve been welcomed already—but a special welcome to the members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service who are here today.

And my wife, Kim, is joining us today.