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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
Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)
  • May/29/24 4:20:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition on behalf of folks who are concerned with the number of deaths across the country as a result of poisoned drugs, a crisis that is hitting my community particularly hard. Petitioners note that they call on the Government of Canada to, first of all, declare a public health emergency with respect to overdose deaths. They look to have the government reframe this away from a criminal justice issue to a public health one. They call for a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to addressing this crisis and the root causes of poverty, addiction, housing and health care, among others; and, including in that multi-faceted approach the decriminalization of drugs. The petitioners go on to call for the government to specifically listen to and act on recommendations made not by politicians, but by social workers, frontline workers, nurses, doctors and those directly involved in the drug-using community.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Mrs. Laila Goodridge (Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC)
  • May/29/24 7:54:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to start out by saying that I will be sharing my time with the member for Cumberland—Colchester and the member for South Surrey—White Rock. I would like to direct all my questions to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. How many people die due to overdose in British Columbia every day, on average?
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 7:54:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to current data, it is drug overdose.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 7:55:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 86% of overdose deaths have been shown to be as a result of the illicit toxic drug supply.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Mrs. Laila Goodridge
  • May/29/24 7:55:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is the percentage increase in overdose deaths in Canada after nine years?
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 7:55:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, current data shows that 86% of overdose deaths are due to the toxic drug supply.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 7:57:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we require a full suite of tools to address the overdose crisis.
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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 8:18:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be speaking with the hon. members who are here today and to share the work that the health portfolio is doing to support Canadians' mental health and address the substance use and overdose crisis in this country. As the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, I believe wholeheartedly that a strong and resilient health care system is an essential part of Canada's social safety net. We must ensure that mental health is treated as a full and equal part of our health care system. Governments are meant to invest in people.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 8:24:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, it is so important that we take a compassionate and holistic approach to what is a public health crisis, not a criminal one. The majority of overdose deaths are individuals dying alone. We need to be able to get them out of the shadows, out of the places where they are hiding, and get them to safety. We need to get them to harm reduction centres, whether it is safe consumption sites or drug checking, where they can be offered primary care, where they can be offered options, choices, so that they live. When we use stigmatizing language, people turn in on themselves. They hate themselves. They need compassion. They need us to see them. We need to meet the moment with health services and compassion.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 9:18:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member does not seem to appreciate the importance of collaborative work between the federal government and jurisdictions in addressing the overdose crisis. We will continue to work with all jurisdictions, as per their requests, on what we can do to save lives.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 9:26:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ontario is one of the top three provinces with high overdose rates.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 9:26:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I am sure every member in the House would agree, no death is acceptable. It is tragic and harmful to the families, loved ones and communities who lose people to overdose because of the toxic drug supply.
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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
  • May/29/24 9:58:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, why do the Conservatives pit harm reduction against treatment instead of choosing a comprehensive, evidence-based, compassionate approach to address the overdose crisis and help those who need help?
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 10:21:10 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have been to Montreal and many communities across the country that are struggling with the drug overdose crisis.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Mr. Brad Vis
  • May/29/24 10:32:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, at the Mission legion, veterans clean up needles and confront crack smoking daily. Do veterans and legion volunteers need to be trained on overdose scenarios and public safety to keep their property safe and protect life?
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 10:32:57 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we will address this overdose crisis with every tool we have available, because communities are asking us to do so. I would encourage the member to speak to his community, to local law enforcement and also to his local provincial jurisdiction on what work—
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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 11:20:02 p.m.
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Sadly, Madam Chair, I have to say again that the stigmatized language from the other side of the House is highly disturbing. Decriminalization is one tool of many in addressing the overdose crisis. It exists in jurisdictions around the world, such as Switzerland, Portugal and Spain, and we know it is an important tool that we need to use. I really wish the member would look at the evidence and the facts rather than use rhetoric.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 11:20:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as the member well knows, we have said no to the Toronto proposal. Again, she seems to ignore the many stakeholders and evidence supporting a full use of tools to address the overdose crisis. People are dying because of street drugs; they are not dying because of decriminalization.
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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Ya'ara Saks
  • May/29/24 11:21:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we do not deal with hypotheticals on this side of the House; we deal with facts. I wish the member would actually engage in an evidence-based conversation on what a comprehensive strategy to addressing the overdose crisis looks like.
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