44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2024 10:00AM
- May/9/24 4:40:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am taken aback; the member for London—Fanshawe spoke in a very angry fashion, and I do not know why. I do not feel angry about this topic. Substance use disorder and opioid use disorder are very serious topics. They require significant resources and, in her terminology, wraparound services. I do not have an argument with any of that.
What I do have a problem with is how they want to go about it. They have an experiment, decriminalization, that has failed. It is over, it needs to be over, and it cannot be expanded.
I also have a significant problem with the member for London—Fanshawe supporting the Liberal government, which also committed to a $4.5-billion Canada mental health transfer. This would have been an excellent way to provide many of those services she discussed. However, to this day, not one penny has been allocated. It is a shame.
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- May/9/24 4:42:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments. He is a man I very much like and respect. He gave a nuanced and thoughtful speech with a few constructive aspects, which helps counterbalance a bit the speeches of many of his Conservative colleagues, who are firmly on the other end of the spectrum.
My question is very simple. Does he make a distinction between the concept of decriminalization and that of diversion?
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- May/9/24 4:42:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is very complicated issue. There are many things we can do for Canadians. There are many other actions that are necessary for the future. On this side of the House, we want to take action and we will do so for the good of all Canadians.
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- May/9/24 4:43:06 p.m.
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It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the question to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment is as follows: the hon. member for Port Moody—Coquitlam, Persons with Disabilities.
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- May/9/24 4:43:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Cumberland—Colchester for his great speech. Knowing his background, I think he has a lot of credibility. Even the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles confirmed this when he asked his question just now.
I would also like to thank my colleague from Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, the Conservative Party's shadow minister for addictions, for her work on this issue, which, let us not forget, has left ruined lives in its wake. The result of this experiment in legalizing hard drugs has been death and destruction, chaos and carnage in Canada's hospitals, playgrounds, parks and public transit.
This is an important issue that troubles me and many Canadians. We see it on our streets, in the Montreal metro, in our public places, and even in front of our local community service centres. It is front-page news from coast to coast to coast.
To make things very clear “for those watching at home”, as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry would say, I would like to reread today's motion. Our opposition day is dedicated to this request:
That, given that since the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister took office, opioid overdose deaths across Canada have increased by 166% according to the most recent data available, the House call on the Prime Minister to:
(a) proactively reject the City of Toronto's request to the federal government to make deadly hard drugs like crack, cocaine, heroin, and meth legal;
(b) reject the City of Montreal's vote calling on the federal government to make deadly hard drugs legal;
(c) deny any active or future requests from provinces, territories and municipalities seeking federal approval to make deadly hard drugs legal in their jurisdiction; and
(d) end taxpayer funded narcotics and redirect this money into treatment and recovery programs for drug addiction.
The reality is that drugs exist, and we need to find solutions to help people who are addicted to them. I am no specialist; I do not pretend to be. I was listening to my colleague, who is a doctor, and I think we have to respect his credibility. I listened to the questions that were put to him, and it is clear that our colleague's comments are very relevant.
As I said, I am no an expert. However, I will provide some numbers. I am a family man and a father, but I will present a few facts about drugs. Drug-related deaths increased in British Columbia by 380% between 2015 and 2023, going from 529 to 2,546 deaths a year. More people in British Columbia died in the first three months of 2024 than in all of 2015. Deaths in British Columbia currently amount to 6.2 people a day. Right now, in British Columbia, more than six people die every day from these drugs. It is unbelievable. Why is this government not doing something?
According to the RCMP, nearly two-thirds of their detachments serve communities that have no rehabilitation or addiction treatment programs. That is exactly what the Conservative Party of Canada wants to fix. It wants to help people in need, to work for real people, who need the help. We need rehabilitation and support programs to get them out of a dark place.
According to one news report, local addicts are reselling up to 90% of their government-supplied drugs on the black market. Pardon the expression, but the government is now a pusher, a drug dealer. This is serious. The going price on the street for hydromorphone has reached rock bottom, making the market more affordable. That is a problem. When harmful things become more affordable, society suffers the consequences. Hydromorphone now costs just $2.
Here is another example. Fatal overdoses from opioids and other illicit drugs are now the leading cause of death for children aged 10 to 18 in British Columbia. Children are our future. They are the ones who will eventually be here in the House of Commons to make our country a better place. I hope that they will be Conservative Party members. That would give me more hope.
I could continue to give statistics, but I have some other things I want to mention. As I said, I am not an expert, but I have plenty of newspaper articles. One headline reads, “Horror stories continue to come out of Montreal's crack alley”. That story was published on TVA Nouvelles on May 8. The Conservatives are not the ones saying this. The Liberals need to step out of their bubble and go out on the streets to see what is really happening. We saw how things went in British Columbia and we are asking that the same mistake not be made again in Toronto, in Montreal, or in the other provinces and territories. Let us work to prevent that from happening.
Here is the headline of another article from the Journal de Montréal, dated May 7, “Presence of a homeless shelter near an early childhood centre is troubling”. I hope so. There are needles on the ground on soccer pitches, in public parks, in hospitals, everywhere the public goes.
Here is the headline of another article, “Crack in a CHSLD”. It says, “Residents of a long-term care facility are selling and using crack in their own institution, even at the front entrance, say occupants of the Paul-Émile-Léger care centre”.
The Montreal police have their hands full. Let us take preventive measures to block this expansion, this offer for a pilot project that would give Montreal and Toronto the opportunity to experience what British Columbia has gone through. We are not the ones who decided this. We noted something. Even the Premier of British Columbia, who is a member of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, made this request. He saw that the situation was problematic and simply wanted to protect his community.
“Decriminalizing hard drugs: in Montreal, no thank you”. Do you know who said that? It was Régine Laurent. Who is Régine Laurent? Ms. Laurent is a woman who is a force in Quebec society. She was the president of the Special Commission on the Rights of the Child and Youth Protection. I think she has quite a bit of credibility.
I will stop there to give my colleagues a chance to speak. I am ready to answer questions. In closing, I would say that I think this is just common sense. I urge my colleagues to be open and to support our motion.
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- May/9/24 4:52:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague made an observation, noting that drugs do exist. I would add a second part to that observation: Diversion will always exist as well, for all substances, whether they are used for pain, anxiety or ADHD.
I would like to know whether the member thinks it is still better to have access to these substances. Does he think that doctors are well positioned to make these decisions? What does he see as the threshold for diversion? Would it be zero?
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- May/9/24 4:52:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not an expert, as I mentioned in my speech. I trust the experts, the professionals and the doctors.
The debate is not about what level is tolerable. We need to aim for zero, but that would be hard to achieve. However, if pilot projects are set up, if markets are expanded, if hard drugs are normalized in Toronto and Montreal, then we have a social problem. British Columbia was a test case. Let us learn from it.
This is a no-brainer. I urge the government to reflect on this before voting, and to vote with us in favour of this motion.
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- May/9/24 4:53:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is urging us to vote in favour of the Conservative motion. The problem is that the motion muddies the waters. Legalization is not decriminalization. Only Vancouver tried decriminalization. Toronto and Montreal have not done it, nor have they decided to do it. They are trying to set up diversion measures instead.
Here is the problem. My colleague may not be an expert, but he should at least be able to define these three concepts, these three tools, so that everyone understands what is happening and what measures are being implemented. I see why my colleague cannot do that: Even his own leader cannot do it. They member's colleague may well be a doctor, but that does not give the member the authority to say that his colleague's comments were accurate when they were not. That is my comment.
Is my colleague saying that Montreal wants to legalize hard drugs? Is that what he is saying?
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- May/9/24 4:54:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are clouding the issue. What we are saying is that we have to be realistic. There is a societal problem when it comes to drugs. We have to take the necessary measures to protect the big cities, Toronto and Montreal, and there is a major test case in British Columbia. This test case has taught us a few things. Yes, doctors have many opinions, but they are specialists and scientists. I think we should leave it to them. Beyond that, we need to protect our big cities, and that is simply what I am calling for today.
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- May/9/24 4:55:31 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I appreciate the responses the member gave regarding the need to listen to experts.
I understand that Canadian chiefs of police support the use of safe supply, as do medical practitioners, because we all know the toll this toxic drug crisis takes.
I wonder if the member agrees that we do need to listen to experts like the Canadian chiefs of police, as well as the medical practitioners who are calling for the continued use of safe supply.
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- May/9/24 4:56:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, we need to trust the experts, but that is prevention. They took a position based on the information they had. Now, if we step back and take the necessary steps to protect our big cities, society will be better off. We need to work toward that. Yes, rehabilitation is important. Yes, we need to work with the experts, but let us open up possibilities and explore our options to make our society a better place.
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- May/9/24 4:57:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Vancouver Kingsway.
I am using my time this evening to focus on the men in this country who have disproportionately been affected by an inadequate drug policy. They deserve better than what Conservatives have tabled in the House.
New Democrats care about getting people the help they need and supporting families and communities that have been hurt by the toxic drug crisis. We know the devastating effects of opioid addiction, and we know it is disproportionately affecting men, men in trades who build our housing and infrastructure, who maintain and fix critical assets for cities, provinces and our federal government, and who drive the economic prosperity of Canada for private resource extraction right across the country.
In my home province of B.C., where the economy has been booming for years because of construction, we can see the effects this is having through the life expectancy rate of men. As life expectancy in B.C. is on the rise for women, it is on the decline for men. This is the first time in recent history. It is shocking, as it is the result of increased deaths among younger men related to the illegal toxic drug supply. The men in this country deserve better. They deserve an immediate and national public health response, not a criminal one.
Men who work in trades are dying alone. Managing pain and addiction alone is a reality in this country. The construction boom, although necessary and good for the economy, continues to put more stress on these workers, often making them work excessive hours, go long periods without breaks and work remotely, away from family and other supports. This can mean these workers become isolated and exhausted. They can suffer from chronic injury pain for which they cannot take time off to heal and turn to drugs to get relief. We need to do better for these men who are giving their lives to and for the economy.
When we think of the men who work in the trades, we often have images of hard-working, stoic, strong men. This is a well-earned reputation, but behind this strength, many of these men are fighting a silent battle against addiction with nowhere to turn for help. Half of all workers dying of drug overdoses work in the trades. The lack of destigmatizing education on these drugs and the lack of supports offered to these men is heartbreaking, but worse, it is killing them. Conservatives do not acknowledge this. They call these workers criminals. They did it today.
I recently heard a tragic story about a young plumber who died of an overdose alone in the basement of his parents' home. His family chose not to have a celebration of life because of the stigma that comes with addiction. This is not an isolated story. New Democrats know that we must treat the toxic drug crisis as a public health emergency rather than a crime, and all of us here in the House have the responsibility to reduce the stigma so that we can end this tragedy. I cannot imagine a family who cannot mourn their son in public because of the stigma.
I would say this directly to the Conservatives: This is why New Democrats support expert-led advice to include a safer supply of substances of known potency and quality to keep people alive until they are ready to seek or have access to treatment.
In Alberta, the situation is even worse. Three out of four people dying in Alberta of drug overdoses are men, and the majority of them are in the trades. These men are isolated in camps and work the oil fields in northern Alberta, such as in the town of Wood Buffalo, where 2023 was a record year for opioid deaths and the deadliest year on record for Alberta, with 1,666 deaths attributed to non-pharmaceutical opioids like fentanyl. The tough-on-crime approach of Conservatives has further pushed these men into isolation and hopelessness.
In Alberta, to make matters worse, when found out that they are using drugs, these men lose their jobs. Those companies that are making billions of dollars are firing these men and not offering help. They are even at risk of being arrested so that the UCP can show that it is tough on crime.
Of course, the Conservatives do not want to talk about the failures of the Conservative premiers across the country, as they jail people who need help and help rich CEOs force more workers into addiction. Families and communities continue to suffer because of the toxic drug crisis. The Conservatives are here to make it worse.
I want to say that there is hope. There is great work being done. In B.C., there are programs like “Tailgate Toolkit”, which aim to educate tradespeople working in construction by ensuring that they have access to harm reduction services and support, the same services the Conservatives want to cut, leaving these workers without any help. We now learn that the Leader of the Opposition wants to put these men in jail with no rights after denying them access to help.
The Conservatives in the House are more than happy to give a free pass to premiers like Danielle Smith when she lets overdoses kill hundreds of tradespeople working in the oil fields in Alberta.
The NDP, as can be seen in B.C., are working hard to find solutions. It wants solutions.
I close by saying that there are a many great people working toward solutions all over the country. In my riding, Chloe Goodison has been doing incredible work through the non-profit she founded in 2021, called NaloxHome. She is a first-year student at SFU and her non-profit has picked up widespread notoriety now. She is based in Port Moody and delivers free destigmatizing drug education, an education that would benefit these Conservatives, I think.
Harm reduction saves lives, and I raise my hands to Chloe and the great work that she and her team do.
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- May/9/24 5:04:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member's speech. I was disappointed at one point, when she was talking about skilled workers dying in the oil patch from addiction, and there was laughter from the Conservative Party, from one particular member.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
Mr. Chris Bittle: It was the same member who is heckling right now, the same member who is continuing to heckle me—
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- May/9/24 5:04:54 p.m.
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I want to remind members to please be respectful to each other within the House. If they do not have the floor, then they should be waiting until that opportunity comes. I also want to ask the hon. member to please just pose his question.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
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- May/9/24 5:05:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was wondering, having listened to the debate from the Conservatives today, if the hon. member saw what we are seeing here today as repackaged war-on-drugs rhetoric, and if she could explain what the consequences of that were back then and what they will be today.
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- May/9/24 5:05:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was just talking to one of my colleagues earlier today about how history is repeating itself in many areas. We were out on the Hill today, taking a stand against those who want to take away the rights of women, anti-choice groups, out on the Hill. We seem to be seeing a “back to the future” return and this is just a reoccurring theme with the Conservatives. They want to take us back in time. We need to focus on lives, saving lives.
I would just say to the member from the Liberals that the Liberals, too, must address this crisis at the scale it requires and move faster to make sure that we can save more lives.
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- May/9/24 5:06:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member from Coquitlam failed to mention, in her speech, that what brought us here today was the 180° from the Premier of British Columbia, who realized that he was going to lose the next election because of the crime, chaos and complete anger in British Columbia over what has happened to our downtown cores and people who are, indeed, suffering from drug addiction.
Will the member agree that the B.C. New Democrats are taking this position because they are afraid of losing the election and that they did not actually follow the four principles, which include enforcement, that have been talked about today?
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- May/9/24 5:07:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the story I shared earlier in my speech about the young man who passed away in his basement and was not able to have a funeral was shared with me by someone in the trades who asked the member who just asked me the question to come visit them at their facility in the Lower Mainland. The member has not taken the time yet to make the trip to go speak with them. Maybe if he did, he could hear the stories and bring some humanity to his party today.
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- May/9/24 5:07:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the pillars of the strategy is harm reduction. This includes, among other measures, supervised consumption sites and safe supply.
Often what we hear from the critics of harm reduction are the negative impacts of these programs.
Could my colleague tell us about the positive effects of these programs?
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- May/9/24 5:08:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to take the opportunity to talk about all of the not-for-profits, and I am sure there are many in his riding as well, that do this work around harm reduction, especially with youth.
In my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, we have an organization called Access Youth. Every single Friday and Saturday night, every weekend for years and years, it is out offering harm reduction to youth. It is educating and offering harm reduction to youth, things like naloxone kits. This is important work. We are talking about young lives, sometimes as young as 12 and 13 years old, who need safe supply and need to be protected from harm.
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