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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Feb/8/22 9:47:53 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, first, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South for his passion and compassion. He talked about the lack of support for treatment. Clearly, that is an issue. I am really glad to hear Conservatives advocating for that. About 15% of people who are suffering with opioid disorder, with addiction, want to get treatment, but people cannot access treatment if they are dead. We are dealing with a poisoned drug supply. I am glad to hear Liberals talk about a safe supply, but they need to scale it up rapidly. We have heard from the experts that the politically courageous answer is full decriminalization, regulated safe supply, record expungement, treatment on demand via the public health system, prevention and education. These are things that are going to make a lot of us uncomfortable. It is going against societal norms, but as my colleague says, we have to do things differently. Is he willing to have the courage to step out and do things differently to save lives? This cannot be about votes. We got elected to do the right thing and listen to experts. Clearly, people are dying. With 20 people dying a day, we need to move rapidly.

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/8/22 9:49:03 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am willing to discuss. All options are on the table. As the member said, people are dying, so all options are on the table. I will say that ultimately my dream would be to have a Canada where no one is using these substances and we are not just managing the crisis but actually overcoming it. I am open. Let us have discussions. Let us work it out. I always enjoy the member's collaborative approach.

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Mr. Yves Perron (Berthier—Maskinongé, BQ)

Feb/8/22 9:49:45 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it makes me very happy to hear the member say that he is open to suggestions, even the possibility of diversion, which is not generally in line with his party's policies. What does he think about the need to increase health transfers to the provinces and Quebec and to increase funding for social housing? Both of these issues are directly related to this problem and are in dire need of funding. It is also essential to note that direct intervention in health care falls under the purview of Quebec and the provinces.

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/8/22 9:50:30 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is astonishing. I will say that throughout this pandemic that the government does not appear to have even contemplated increasing health transfers. One of the pressures on our system has been, of course, COVID-19, but we also are, in many cases, lacking the sufficient ICU beds and hospital beds that we need. Like I said, we are always open to collaboration and discussion.

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Mr. Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, CPC)

Feb/8/22 9:51:08 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is good to be here this evening to share some thoughts. I want to thank the members from all sides for discussing this very important issue, which is something that touches us here and touches Canadians from coast to coast to coast. We probably all know people, loved ones, who have been impacted through drugs or through overdosing and dying. In British Columbia, where I am from, 2,700 people have died from COVID since the pandemic began. During that time, almost 3,700 have died through the opioid crisis. That is 1,000 more people than died from COVID. It is very serious. COVID is serious, but this is a very serious issue that is impacting Canadians. Since 2015, we have seen an almost 500% increase in drug-related deaths in British Columbia, from 400 to now approaching 2,000 people. It is a crisis, and opioids can be unforgiving. One hit and someone can be dead. I know different people who have died. I think of a young woman, a beautiful lady, who had a child. She was very outgoing and friendly. She was a bridesmaid at my niece's wedding. The next I heard, she had died. She and her boyfriend had died. It can hit so quickly. I have been to thousands of doors in the past couple of years, and I do not know how many people I have met who have lost loved ones through this. On December 14, 2021, a Canadian Press story quoted Dr. Nel Wieman, who is a deputy chief medical officer with one of the B.C. health authorities. In the story, she says that deaths were declining in 2019, but that lockdowns forced people into isolation and more people used drugs alone. She said: The unintended consequences of the public health measures related to the COVID pandemic has exacerbated the toxic drug events and deaths. That is difficult. For example, in February, 2020, there were 78 deaths in British Columbia. Then in March, when COVID struck, we had 119 deaths. These were not COVID deaths. They were drug overdoses. In April, there were 128 and in May, there were 187. In July, there were 185. People are dealing with mental health issues. These are big issues, and they are leading to people going to drugs. They are feeling isolated. I talked to the RCMP superintendent at the Ridge Meadows detachment, who said the number one issue is mental health. The opioid crisis goes hand in hand with mental health. I am indigenous. I am Métis. It is very troubling to hear that indigenous people are five times more likely to overdose, and three times more likely to die from an overdose. It is a terrible situation. Last spring, I presented a motion to look at a framework for addiction recovery. I think that is something we need to look at. What we are doing right now is not going in the right direction. We need to do something more, and there has been a real lack in the area of investment into recovery programs. I visited some recovery places in my constituency. I think of Tiffany. When I talked to her, she told me that after she had been an addict for 20 years, the recovery place had given her the tools she needed to love herself so she could go home and be the mother her children needed. Another young woman told me she had been addicted to drugs and supported her habit through prostitution. She told me that she would be dead if it was not for the help she was now receiving. Joanna is the manager of Hannah House in my riding. She said that a lot of money is being spent helping people stay sick and addicted. She said it is heartbreaking, and that it is important, and essential, to keep people alive. There is no doubt about that, but how about finding a way for them to be truly able to live? That is it. We want to keep people alive, but we want them to have a life. That is where recovery comes in. We need a lot more investment in this at the different levels. I asked Joanna why there was so little funding from the government, from her perspective. She said that abstinence-based recovery was not really politically correct. That was interesting.

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Mrs. Élisabeth Brière (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)

Feb/8/22 9:56:08 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his speech, particularly for speaking about indigenous Canadians in his province. It is true that the opioid crisis continues to have a disproportionate impact on the health and well-being of indigenous people. We are investing $425 million annually for community-based services to address the mental wellness needs of first nations and Inuit. Would my colleague agree that those investments would help make it easier to access medication, to allow overdose prevention sites to be rapidly established, and to respond to immediate COVID-19 needs in communities?

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Mr. Marc Dalton

Feb/8/22 9:57:04 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, there could be investments, for sure. However, the member used the word “medication”, and I believe that is code for giving people drugs, whether it be methadone or other drugs. The objective needs to be seeing people actually recover, fully, and to give them help to move on. That takes a tremendous amount of work. It is mental health and all sorts of different things. It is not a simple solution. I think we need to come together. What are some ways? I believe that recovery has to be at the forefront.

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Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Feb/8/22 9:57:51 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, a homelessness initiative was started in my riding during the pandemic. A whole lot of these resources have emerged in Quebec and across the country. The pandemic has taken a toll. What we are hearing tonight is that the pandemic has had major consequences in terms of mental health and opioid use. I think that cases have doubled in all provinces across the country. Some people have succumbed. They lost their job and started using. There is a homelessness initiative in my riding. Although there was a little funding during the pandemic to support these people and these kinds of resources, that well has dried up. The government has not made any announcements about what will happen at the end of March. Organizations are waiting to pay people and keep the resource open. Does my colleague agree that the government should extend funding for homelessness beyond March 31?

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Mr. Marc Dalton

Feb/8/22 9:58:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Longueuil—Saint‑Hubert. He asked what the alternatives are. I truly believe that recovery centres are essential. As I mentioned earlier, the pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact on the number of people dying. The director of one recovery centre told me that many people living on the streets were receiving money that they were not really supposed to receive. Many of these people were negatively impacted as a result. That is one of the problems that was noted.

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Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Feb/8/22 9:59:58 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I just want to tell my neighbour, the member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, that I know how deeply this affects his community, and I know how hard he and other elected officials in his community are working to make sure that people are housed and cared for in Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge. The other thing that the member and I share is the reality that the opioid crisis is responsible for the declining life expectancy of men in the province of British Colombia. We know much of it is related to tradespeople. Unfortunately, tradespeople do not have access to the care they need: the health care and the doctors they need to deal with the pain they are dealing with every day. I just wanted to extend my wishes to the member that our communities remain healthy, and also ask the member if he supports the bill from my colleague, the member for Courtenay—Alberni, in relation to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs, so that those who are working, who are trying to work through pain and trying to work through any type of opioid addiction are not at risk of losing their employment.

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Mr. Marc Dalton

Feb/8/22 10:01:20 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for her comments and, yes, we are right across the river from each other. I know one of the organizations in my riding that is helping those to recover is Hope for Freedom. I know there are also facilities in her riding that are doing great work. It gives me hope to see people's lives changed and for them to be able to come out of this. It does give me that hope, so I am happy to work with her. As far as the Conservatives' position, we are not for trying to go after the drug users but more those who are in the distribution and pushing on a large scale. That would be our focus. I would have to look at the bill before I comment further, but I do thank her for her questions.

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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, Lib.)

Feb/8/22 10:02:20 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Kitchener Centre. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important issue that has tragically touched so many lives right across the country and of course in my riding of Vancouver Granville. British Columbia has been seized by the opioid crisis as we have heard from other members. It does not matter whether we are rich or poor, urban or rural, likely we know someone who has either lost their life or been touched in some way by this awful crisis. The impact of the opioid crisis is devastating individuals, families and communities. We all know it has become worse through the COVID-19 pandemic with isolation, stress, reduced access to services and toxic supply now entering the mix. As a result, we saw a 74% increase in opioid-related deaths during the first six months alone of the pandemic. When we think about the opioid crisis, too often we fall back on stigmatized characterizations of people who use drugs. The ongoing effects of the opioid epidemic are pervasive. These overdoses are claiming the lives of thousands of Canadians of all ages from all walks of life. We continue to hear so many devastating stories from people who have lost a loved one to this epidemic. I heard these stories during my more than 10 years as a volunteer and a board member at Covenant House in Vancouver, and I have heard them from my constituents about their loved ones, whether they are doctors, lawyers, teachers or kids. To this day, I am absolutely haunted by the stories of young people for whom the possibility of death from an opioid was just all in a day's living. I was also moved by the desire of so many who were desperate for a way out, a way out that meant that they could get clean and stay clean and not worry about dying in the process. These young people, those who survived and those who did not, continue to be a reminder of why we have to act. Those who were impacted by the opioid crisis still remain stigmatized by the public, and the stigma remains a huge barrier to ensuring that people who use drugs can receive safe, culturally competent and trauma-informed care. Harm reduction, safe supply and addressing this as a health care issue is what we must do. Substance use is a health issue that requires care and compassion like any other health condition. It requires vision like that shown by Vancouver's late mayor Philip Owen and his four-pillar approach for addressing Vancouver's drug crisis. The four-pillar approach reflected a comprehensive approach to the drug crisis by treating it as a public health issue and not solely as a law enforcement issue. Instead it involved a mix of prevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction. This approach was critical in changing the shape of how Vancouver approached the drug crisis in the early 2000s. Now almost 20 years later we know that there is lots more work and collaboration that we need to put into place, but we know that harm reduction saves lives and we know that we need critical action immediately to reduce the harms of the worsening toxic drug supply. It is often said that Canada's opioid crisis started in B.C. and it has to end in B.C. I am proud of the work that we have done to date. In 2017, my colleague from Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam introduced the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, which provided limited legal immunity to those bystanders who called for help if they witnessed an overdose. Since 2017, supervised consumption sites across Canada have received more than 2.9 million visits and have reversed nearly 27,000 overdoses without a single death at a site. We know that supervised consumption sites save lives by providing a safe, clean space for people to bring their own drugs to use and to be able to test these drugs safely. To continue to effectively address this crisis, we know that we have to collaborate with all levels of government in effecting a meaningful response. As we move forward in addressing this crisis, we know that a comprehensive, collaborative, compassionate and evidence-based approach is what is going to work to end this national public health crisis. We have to consider all options, from safe supply to drug checking, to stop this unending and preventable loss of life. We have a chance to lead on ending once and for all the heartbreak and devastation that is caused by this opioid epidemic. We do this by working with communities, law enforcement across all levels of government and, above all else, by keeping in mind that this is about saving the lives of our fellow Canadians. That should be reason enough to act.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/8/22 10:07:03 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to probe one aspect of the member's speech. He talked about the issue of safe supply, and other members have talked about safe supply policies. The term safe supply can be used in different context. I would support, for instance, providing substances like suboxone that can be used in treatment. Suboxone can help treat opioid dependency and also has the benefit of being quite tamper-resistant. I would also support allowing doctors to have the discretion and flexibility to provide prescriptions to patients in the context of understanding their own situation or their own health needs. That could be considered a form of safe supply. What I would not support is a policy whereby a broad range of dangerous drugs were made more easily available outside the context of treatment and not under the supervision of a physician. I wonder if the member could clarify what kinds of safe supply policies he supports. Is he talking about physicians making substances like suboxone more available, or is he talking about just a general policy of government funding and increasing the availability of dangerous drugs?

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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Feb/8/22 10:08:22 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we have to work with the provinces and the cities where we are going to be putting this in place to understand what makes the most sense. There is lots of opportunity for us to look at SUAP, the substance use and addictions program, and ways in which we can direct funding from there to work with physicians to deal with safe supply. There are so many options available to us, and we need to explore all of those options. I know the minister dealing with mental health and addictions has been putting a tremendous amount of time and effort looking into this. We can come up with solutions that work to serve Canadians in the most meaningful way possible, and hopefully with the support of all in the House.

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Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Feb/8/22 10:09:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-216

Mr. Chair, the member for Vancouver Granville talked about how he listened to the stories of people struggling with addiction. Some of the most moving stories I have heard from my constituents have been from people who have struggled with addiction. Some of them have overcome it and are back with their families or forming new families, which is so moving. He outlined some of the paths we need to take to get people to that place. My colleague from Courtenay—Alberni has tabled a private member's bill, Bill C-216, which will be debated here very shortly, that will tackle each of those things. It will tackle decriminalization of small amounts of drugs and it would form a national strategy with the provinces to talk about dealing with the harmful medical effects such as safe supply. I am wondering if he will support this bill.

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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Feb/8/22 10:10:08 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for his advocacy on this issue. There are many elements we need to consider. Working with the provinces is key. Vancouver and British Columbia have already put in applications for exemptions. These are tangible things we can put into place right away. All of these opportunities are ones for us to take up in partnership with the provinces and the cities. It is how we are going to get this done. It is how we are going to make sure we are addressing these issues in all the different ways required, from ensuring there is safe supply all the way to ensuring there is wraparound care for mental health and addictions, all of which are interlinked in many of these situations.

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Mrs. Julie Vignola (Beauport—Limoilou, BQ)

Feb/8/22 10:10:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a background in education, and school boards and schools in Quebec have a need and a duty to prepare action plans. These plans must include objectives and state how they will be reached, how long it will take and who is responsible for doing it. Is it not time that we did the same for the opioid crisis? We have plenty of solutions to offer.

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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Feb/8/22 10:11:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the time has come to work together and tackle this problem. We must work with all the provinces to find solutions that will work for their regions and for the cities facing this crisis. We will work together, because that is what it will take to find these solutions and solve these issues in an effective manner.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Feb/8/22 10:12:15 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to start by thanking the member for Yukon for his leadership in ensuring we have this conversation this evening. It is such an important conversation to come back to the critical need for us to save lives in the midst of a poisoning crisis. Before we talk about that crisis, I want to share that in Waterloo region alone in 2021, there were around 155 overdose poisoning deaths. As a baseline, to give members a sense, we had 145 deaths from COVID-19 in Waterloo region. As many members also know, the average is now 19 deaths a day across the country. For those in this place who like talking about the economics of decisions that are made here, in 2017 we spent $6.4 billion on policing, courts and correctional costs with respect to criminalized substances. Tonight and often, I have heard many folks say that this should be a public health matter, not a criminal justice one, and I could not agree more. The good news is that we have advice for all parliamentarians on how to ensure that our legislation reflects that, because the fact is that today it is not true. It continues to be that we are criminalizing unregulated substances across the country. To do that, I would encourage all parliamentarians to review the expert panel's advice from Health Canada on substance use. This is why I am so supportive of the member for Courtenay—Alberni's private member's bill. It is taking a road map from this third-party advice to move toward legislation that would do exactly that. It would treat this as a matter of public health and, because it is a crisis, which is a view that every speaker this evening has shared, we should move forward with the urgency it deserves. That is why I would encourage all parliamentarians to support the private member's bill. Specifically, in doing so, that bill includes recommendations from the expert panel, including the decriminalization of simple possession of unregulated drugs, expunging or wiping clean the records of folks so they do not have that discrimination throughout their lives and a national strategy that would include low-barrier access to a safer supply. As we do that, I also want to point out the need, which was mentioned by the task force, to talk about the social determinants of health while also directly addressing the poisoning crisis we are in. We know that, for those who are currently addicted to unregulated drugs, that is heightened by the lack of access to quality, dignified and affordable housing. It is heightened by the lack of truly universal health care across the country and the lack of proper income supports. With the rest of my time, I would love to share a quote from a frontline worker in Waterloo region. This is from Alice, who works at the Sanguen Health Centre, who supports and works with people every day who are on the front lines of this crisis. Her words are the following: Regardless of the political climate, we are going to spend every minute of our day caring about people who use drugs, honouring their lives, their perspectives and their expertise, and advocating with them when their needs are not met. We will continue to build and create relationships that are based on mutual respect and love and walk with people in their times of joy and in times of heartbreak. We will remember each life that has been lost in preventable overdose deaths as the vibrant, complex and beautiful spirits that they were instead of cold statistics, and we will continue to refuse to accept the status quo: that people who use drugs are considered less important than other people in our communities. We will proudly declare to anyone who is listening (and many who aren’t) that people who use drugs are a welcome part of our community, not people happening to our community, just as we have every day for many years.

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Mrs. Élisabeth Brière (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)

Feb/8/22 10:17:13 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member mentioned that a lot of money has been put in the justice system. We introduced legislation that, among other measures, would require police and prosecutors to consider non-criminal responses to some drug-related offences. I would ask my colleague if he agrees that alternatives to prosecution should be considered for simple possession offences.

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