44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 16, 2023 10:00AM
- May/16/23 3:07:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says that spending tax dollars to give free hard drugs to addicts is safe. He is wrong. Instead, he supercharged the drug crisis that is killing our sons and daughters, seven dying a day in B.C. alone. There is no time to wait. We need a common-sense plan that saves lives. Stop flooding our streets with crack, heroin and cocaine. Addicts need rehab, access to treatment beds and a path to a drug-free life.
The Prime Minister is out of touch and our youth are at risk. Will he do what it takes to bring home our kids drug-free?
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- May/16/23 3:08:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow the Conservatives to take us back to the failed ideology of the past. Our government will use every tool at our disposal to end this national public health crisis. Supporting a safer supply is just one of the evidence-based, comprehensive public health responses to the toxic drug and overdose crisis. They do include prevention, treatment and enforcement.
Our government is working with stakeholders that help support a safer supply and build that evidence, like the recent CMHA study around this promising, life-saving practice.
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- May/16/23 3:08:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even though this situation is raging in British Columbia and across Canada, every Canadian, every Canadian family and every Canadian parent is concerned about this issue.
What we are seeing is that over the years, under this Liberal government, the situation has gotten worse. Not only is it not improving, but it is getting worse.
Is it not time for the Prime Minister and his government to realize that since the situation is getting worse, it is time for a new common-sense approach?
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- May/16/23 3:09:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Quebec City region for asking that question.
Like me, he must know that in Quebec City, there are people in my riding and all over who save lives not only with early intervention and not only with harm reduction, but also with supervised consumption sites.
If my colleague is willing, he is welcome to come visit these people. Many of them are in Quebec City's lower town. Every day, these people, who are far removed from the ideology of his leader, fortunately, are there to help people in our region.
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- May/16/23 3:10:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at COP15 last December, Canada and 195 other countries adopted a historic framework, the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework aims to protect nature around the world and halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030.
Yesterday, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change launched consultations with Canadians on the 2030 biodiversity strategy for Canada.
If my Bloc Québécois friends are willing to listen, would the minister tell us more about these consultations?
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- May/16/23 3:10:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
Canada has demonstrated leadership by being one of the first countries to launch its 2030 national biodiversity strategy and kicking off its consultations.
I am proud not only to launch these consultations with Canadians, but also to honour our promise to protect at least 30% of Canada's land and water by 2030. We also launched consultations about adding the monarch butterfly and the bumblebee to Canada's list of species at risk.
There is still much work to be done, and we must act now.
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- May/16/23 3:11:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the so-called safe supply policies of the Liberal-NDP coalition are deadly. Seven people a day are dying in B.C. alone. Unsafe tent cities abound. Kids are being sold the safe supply drugs and overdosing at an alarming rate. Then users have the cash to buy deadly fentanyl. Our sons and daughters are paying the price.
When will the Liberals make treatment beds a priority, not free hard drugs, so that we can bring home our loved ones drug-free?
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- May/16/23 3:11:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again I will quote from Ben Perrin, the public safety and justice adviser to former prime minister Stephen Harper:
There is no indication that prescribed safe supply is contributing to illicit drug deaths.
Safer supply has been tested and found to be beneficial for people who have been unable to have treatment for whatever reason, and are long-term substance-abuse users. We’re talking about essentially substituting a contaminated street drug with a drug that has known contents and potency to help people stay alive, first of all, and also to be able to stabilize.
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- May/16/23 3:12:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the careless attitude the Liberal government has taken toward the overdose and addiction crisis in Canada is unacceptable. In British Columbia alone, as I mentioned previously, seven people a day were dying in January. We have heard the Liberal addictions minister refer to the reckless distribution of hard drugs without mandatory treatment as a necessary step.
When will the Liberal government listen to science, realize that its decriminalization experiment is a failure, give addicts rehab, not free drugs, and bring our loved ones home?
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- May/16/23 3:13:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is impossible to bring one's loved ones home if they are dead. I am—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/16/23 3:13:28 p.m.
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- May/16/23 3:13:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the toxic drug supply means that people in construction or in the mines are using once and dying. We have to move to a safer supply of drugs, as we have with alcohol, cannabis and the other ways people actually use substance to numb their pain. Former prime minister Stephen Harper's adviser said, particularly on using people using drugs as props, “I was really disgusted by it. I honestly was so disturbed to see Pierre—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/16/23 3:14:08 p.m.
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Order, please.
Time had run out long before. I just want to remind hon. members, when they are referring to someone, to refer to them by their titles or their ridings. I know it gets emotional in here and we forget sometimes, but I just want to remind everyone on all sides.
The hon. member for Essex has the floor.
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- May/16/23 3:14:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government continues to disrupt people's lives and cripple companies like WestJet. The labour and transportation ministers have once again failed to bring union and management to the table. Now Canadian travellers may be stranded over the long weekend. The Prime Minister's high taxes and high inflation continue to destroy this country while our air pilots are leaving to work abroad.
Our pilots are vital. When will the ministers do their job and ensure our pilots are back in the cockpit?
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- May/16/23 3:15:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, right now the employer and the union are at the bargaining table. They are trying to reach an agreement, one that is going to work for everyone. Our federal mediators are very good at what they do. Last year, they resolved 93% of federal disputes without any work stoppage. Right now they are focused on the bargaining table, and so am I.
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- May/16/23 3:15:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians across the country are concerned about foreign interference, and we know diaspora communities are especially vulnerable. Chinese Canadians worry about the impact on the local community and about friends and family abroad. Canadians I have spoken to want real solutions.
Can the Minister of Public Safety share what the government is doing to protect and reassure Chinese Canadians and indeed all Canadians?
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- May/16/23 3:16:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague for her work and her leadership on this issue. Obviously, any form of foreign interference is unacceptable, and we have a concrete plan that is focused on prevention, protection and accountability, including and up to expelling foreign diplomats when they cross the line, but we are not stopping there. We are going to continue with the creation of a foreign agent registry, but we are going to do it in the right way, so that communities are not stigmatized or marginalized. We are going to do this work to protect Canadians, and we need to do that work together.
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- May/16/23 3:16:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP and I heard from B.C. municipal leaders about the need for more reliable and affordable public transit in metro Vancouver. The mayors have a strong plan for necessary transit expansions, but the Liberal government is putting that plan at risk by delaying promised funding until 2026. Commuters are the ones who pay when the Liberals delay. Workers, students, seniors and people living with disabilities deserve timely, accessible transit now.
Why are the Liberals holding back this crucial funding from communities?
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- May/16/23 3:17:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we share my colleague's concern about accessible, affordable public transit. It is good for the environment, and it helps families in terms of commuting, getting to important jobs they need to attend to. I am looking forward to meeting later this afternoon with mayors from the greater Vancouver area regarding TransLink. It is an ongoing conversation.
I will draw to my colleague's attention that a $3-billion permanent public transit fund is exactly what the Canadian Federation of Municipalities asked for. We have put that in place, and we will continue to work with mayors from British Columbia and across the country to make sure this works well.
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- May/16/23 3:18:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to building new passenger rail between Toronto and Quebec City, it would seem that the fix was in. Faced with the heady choice between privatization and, wait for it, privatization, one can guess what the transport minister chose. Documents show that the minister did not even consider a public model before he decided to hand Via Rail's busiest rail corridor over to private investors.
Why is the transport minister so fixated on privatizing this country's public passenger rail system?
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