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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 320

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 29, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • May/29/24 8:22:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for her question; it is an important one. It should be very clear to everyone, and I say this to Canadians but I also say it to the benches, that harm reduction is health care. Providing key services to keep people alive so that we can steer them towards a safe journey towards treatment starts with compassion. It starts with a full suite of tools. There are international standards for this that include harm reduction as the key strategy. We have to approach this with compassion. We only hear slogans from the Conservatives across the way on this. They do not see it as keeping loved ones alive, as the minister once said, one more day to keep them alive. Why will they not join on in evidence-based approaches to do that?
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • May/29/24 9:43:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank the member for sharing what he is seeing in his own community. We are seeing this in communities across the country, and it is so important we meet the moment. A war on drugs is what the Conservatives are purporting to be the answer, with forced treatment and saying they care for their loved ones, but they want to criminalize people. We need compassion. We need health care. We need a firm commitment to a comprehensive suite of tools that, yes, includes harm reduction. It is shameful to see there is such a lack of compassion on the other side of what it truly takes to invest in Canadians, to invest in families and to invest in communities to save lives in this overdose crisis. We have put a billion dollars on this side of the House toward saving lives, and we will not stop. We are meeting this moment with our provincial jurisdictions. We are meeting the moment with our communities, with harm reduction, with treatment, with prevention and with care. On this side of the House, we care about Canadians.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • May/29/24 11:47:13 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the Minister of Indigenous Services for her compassion. It is so important for us to remember what it means to be Canadian right now. We hold each other together, and we are holding each other through many challenging things right now, including the tragic lives lost through the overdose crisis. This is where we step up and throw everything we have got at it. What is amazing about harm reduction and needle exchange is that it is not new. It has been around as an evidence-based, proven way to meet people where they are at, to open the door for them to come inside and get help. When people offer an extended hand and say to come on inside and ask what someone needs, what is the first thing someone needs? They need a clean needle. Let us talk about why they are using that needle. Let us talk about how we get them to a healthier place. Harm reduction is nothing new. On the other side of the bench, they stigmatize. They talk about this in terms of their loved ones being criminals, that they should go back to dark corners and hide what they are struggling with, hide their struggle with substance use and the disease of addiction. We know that needle exchanges and safe consumption sites bring people into health care. They walk into that place. We are not just talking about saving lives. We are talking about getting them the health services they need with the compassion and care that they deserve.
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