44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2023 10:00AM
- May/18/23 12:07:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the choice is this: If they can get access to a safer supply, then there is interaction, which means an opportunity to work with individuals; if they do not have that option, they are going to the street. That means they are getting their drugs from an unregulated supply from organized crime.
The motion today would take away safe supply and tell people to go to the street. The police have said that they cannot arrest their way out of this problem; this problem is not going away. We have to listen to the experts. The chief coroner in B.C. is going to be reporting today. She is saying that we need a safe supply program to be rolled out, not this incremental approach, by the way.
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- May/18/23 12:15:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I said, my colleague brought me to his riding and I got to see first-hand some of the really great work that people in his community are doing, especially around no-barrier housing, ensuring people have a safe place to live while they are getting away from the toxic drug supply, and using safe supply or OAT.
The difference right now is that, if they go to the street supply, it is a toxic concoction. They do not even know what they are getting. Using a safer supply of substances means people can stay alive. We are not seeing people dying from a safer supply. They are dying from fentanyl. That is what is happening.
It needs to be evidence-based. The chief coroner of B.C. has said that safe supply is not killing people and that over 80% of people who are dying had fentanyl, which was made on the street, sold on the street, and marketed and manufactured on the street. It is not acceptable.
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- May/18/23 1:13:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened to this debate intently for the last couple of hours, and this is controlled frustration, anger and seething. I have been vocal and very upfront about how this crisis has impacted my family personally. I lost a brother-in-law. My brother is on the street, gripped with addictions.
The Liberal Party's talking point today is that their program has saved 45,000 people. Safe consumption sites and safe supply are two different things. There are many tools in the tool box.
Of those 45,000 people who overdosed and were brought back, how many are still alive today? I ask, because the first responders I am meeting with are saying they will save somebody in the morning, and then a few hours later that very same person is overdosing again. Those numbers are false, because they do not take into account whether those people are still alive.
What we are saying today is that we have to do more to save these people. Safe supply is one tool in the tool box, but it is not working. We cannot prescribe one without the whole tool box.
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- May/18/23 1:33:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have people reaching out to me all the time, people who have boots on the ground and are seeing the results of this. They reviving people who are taking safe supply over and over again.
There is a lot written about this. I know people can be selective in what they are reading. I mentioned one of the articles about safe supply in my intervention. There are many articles about this. My time is up, but I have—
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- May/18/23 2:00:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my friend and medical colleague from across the aisle and I can agree on the need for a comprehensive approach, which I spoke to in my speech. Harm reduction, including safe supply, is one of the pillars of that approach. We need to support and scale up safe supply to use it when it is indicated. That is part of the overall approach.
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- May/18/23 5:00:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Vancouver Island for his very informative and substantive question.
Those safe prevention sites are literally saving the lives of the most vulnerable in our society. We must always take care of our most vulnerable, and any closures of those sites would obviously be detrimental to them.
We as a government, me as a parliamentarian and all parliamentarians need to make sure we are assisting and taking care of the most vulnerable in our society, particularly those dependent on substances, who in fact could pass away from taking them if they do not receive treatment or a safe supply of alternative medicines.
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- May/18/23 5:01:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a really important subject. The director of my constituency office just buried her nephew after his fentanyl overdose on the streets of Montreal. I do not think anyone in this House would disagree that the issue of overdoses and addictions is of great importance.
I would like to ask my hon. colleague if he would elaborate a bit more on how a safe supply is going to save people like the nephew of my constituency director.
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- May/18/23 5:13:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, harm reduction is a major concern here and evidence-based strategies are a major player here to save lives. We know, prior to 2015, we did not have safe spaces, but with this strategy, we have more safe centres where harm reduction and assistance are being provided. We are saving lives by doing that.
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- May/18/23 5:16:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brampton Centre for his quite measured speech on what is an unmeasured or moderate resolution from the Conservatives.
I wonder if he agrees with me on something. The Conservatives seem to be conflating safe supply with new addictions and it is certainly not the case. Safe supply is a way of keeping those who are already suffering from addictions, suffering from substance use problems, alive until we can get them into treatment and we can get them out of the situations that have led to their dire circumstances.
Does he agree with me that safe supply is certainly essential to preventing loss of life in our communities?
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