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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Oct/20/22 6:38:02 p.m.
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Madam Chair, part of the minister's last answer was where I wanted to go with my question. It is on data and the importance of the provinces and territories sharing data, not only for the federal government and for our use to understand what is going on in Canada, but for local communities to understand how their data relates to that of similar communities and the best practices that can be transferred, including for the opioid crisis and peer support workers. I know $2.9 million is coming into Guelph for five peer support projects. They are community-driven projects for mental health. Could the minister comment on how data can include mental health but also opioids and things related to peer support systems?

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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Hon. Carolyn Bennett

Oct/20/22 6:38:56 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the member for Guelph for all of his advocacy and for hosting us in Guelph, where we learned a lot about the great things happening on the ground there not only at the university but throughout his community. We cannot pretend that we can go forward without being able to fund what works and stop funding what does not work, or without understanding the areas of greater need and being able to put additional resources there. We can only do that with data. Last week, I was pleased that the OECD thanked me for my intervention on data at the world mental health conference. Even with the opioid crisis, at the moment, the Public Health Agency of Canada has placed federal public servants in each of the provinces and territories just so we can get data on the opioid crisis. With the pandemic, the provinces have been struggling, and we cannot do this without the appropriate data. As we have seen with COVID, we now have better data on immunizations, diseases, emergency visits and ICUs. I hope that will transfer into a real ability, as I am meeting with the health ministers next month, for us all to understand that Canadians deserve to know what is working.

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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Mr. Todd Doherty

Oct/20/22 6:51:33 p.m.
Watch

Madam Chair, I appreciate the question, and absolutely, but we are not the experts here in the House. We have to work with those who are on the front lines. We have to work with those who have lived experience. We have to work with the national organizations and the true medical experts to really develop something that is tangible and can impact and help Canadians. I know that far too many Canadians are falling through the cracks; far too many Canadians are struggling with opioid addiction, and what we are doing just is not enough. Applying a band-aid does not help it, so it has to be diversified, because what works for some may not work for others. No two cases are the same.

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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie (Joliette, BQ)

Oct/20/22 6:52:29 p.m.
Watch

Madam Chair, I want to thank and congratulate my colleague for his very moving speech. I think that everyone in the House felt my colleague's emotion and commitment, which we certainly share. I thank him. We have been talking about the opioid crisis and what needs to be done. The member told us that we need a host of measures that depend in particular on the context and the place. I would like him to talk about specific cases. What can be done to better combat the opioid crisis and its deadly consequences?

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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Mr. Todd Doherty

Oct/20/22 7:19:14 p.m.
Watch

Madam Chair, I apologize to my friend, but perhaps he could state this one more time. I just want to know again the amount of money that Quebec has committed to its mental health plan, as well as the seven pillars. I am not quite sure I heard that there was anything in them for addictions or recovery. I wonder if Quebec is seeing the same things that the province of British Columbia is seeing in terms of the opioid crisis that is spiralling out of control. Perhaps our colleague could take the next minute and a half to speak to that.

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