Hon. Katherine Hay: Honourable senators, I rise to bring your attention to the brain economy. On June 14, the G7 Canada Brain Economy Summit convened for a specific call to action for the G7 leaders to adopt a pan-G7 action plan on brain health. The Brain Economy coalition is an international coalition of scientific, business, NGO and not-for-profit charities and policy leaders.

Let me provide some context. The brain economy, or brain health economy, is defined by brain health disorders encompassing mental health, mental illness, substance use and neurological conditions. Canada has a strong and growing footprint and leadership position in the brain economy.

Canada also has its own crisis to solve. During my remarks on Saturday, it was not lost on me that in this government and in the Senate, we need to make bold moves forward — and quickly — to enhance affordability, strengthen our economy, and enable interprovincial free trade and labour mobility, among other things. All of this is critical work that is in front of us to do. Yet, if we as a country, and the other G7 nations, quest for greater economic leadership and growth — and dare I say, greater happiness and well-being — we need to quest for, and lead in, the brain economy as well, if not first.

We need to start with the very people that will drive all our futures forward: young people. Since March 2020, young people reached out to Kids Help Phone, or KHP from coast to coast to coast, ages 5 to 28, more than 22.5 million times. What they are reaching out about now is more acute than it has ever been. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people between the ages of 15 and 24. That is a hard reality. Canada lays claim to the fifth-highest youth suicide rate in the industrialized world. Canada does.

The number of young people reaching out to KHP under the age of 13 about suicide ideation has doubled in the past four years. Seventy per cent of mental health issues in adults began or were rooted in their youth, and that is being played out today in our economic productivity and well-being. Equity is an aspiration; it is not a reality, especially in mental health.

Put this all together, and it’s clear why the brain economy needs to be a top priority for every G7 leader. We need a bold and actionable strategy and real investment with accountability to that investment, because every day we delay is lost talent, lost productivity, lost economic growth and lost lives.

What I know to be true is that there is no health without mental health. What I also know to be true is that there is no sustainable healthy economy without a thriving and healthy brain economy. Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.