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House Hansard - 338

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 18, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 338 - Sep/18/24
Mr. Jaime Battiste (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)
  • Sep/18/24 6:49:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our hearts go out to the families and friends who have lost their lives to the toxic drug and overdose crisis. No community has been left untouched by this tragic public health crisis. We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to help Canadians and not look away. As part of an overall comprehensive approach, our government continues to support efforts to divert people who use drugs away from the criminal justice system and towards health and social services. This approach helps reduce immediate harms and helps create opportunities for people to find a way to supports, including treatment and recovery, while keeping communities safe. Prevention is critical. Everyone making the courageous step to seek treatment should have access without delay. Enforcement has a key role to play in disrupting illegal organizations that prey on vulnerable people. I think everyone in the House would agree that we need prevention, treatment and enforcement as part of a comprehensive approach. However, we disagree when it comes to harm reduction. Harm reduction keeps people alive, yet Conservatives want to remove an essential tool to address this crisis. People accessing harm reduction services are choosing to live another day. They are choosing to access health care and to be connected to the system. Like any service, these services need to be well resourced and well staffed to be successful, but removing services for ideological reasons is the trademark of the opposition. People struggling with addiction are not criminals. They need health care, not jail. We changed the legislation and issued guidance to make sure that, in cases of simple possession, police and prosecutors must now consider referring the person to health and social services, issuing a warning or taking no further action. In this way, they can consider both public health and public safety. These amendments mean that individuals have the chance to get the help they need to address underlying issues rather than being criminalized for health care issues. This strategy encourages a public health approach while making sure that police have the discretion to move forward with criminal offences when public safety risks arise. We will always work with provinces, territories, indigenous communities and all partners to provide them the support they need to deliver the services their communities need most. The overdose crisis has no borders and does not care about jurisdiction. We all need to be partners at the table, working together. We should not sow division or attack people on the front lines of this crisis but work to help Canadians. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this crisis. It requires a multi-faceted response. We are working so that Canadians have access to the full range of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services, and supports they need, as needed. For example, budget 2024 announced $150 million over three years to support municipalities and indigenous communities. This is to help provide rapid responses to emergent critical needs related to the overdose crisis. We remain committed to working with provinces, territories, law enforcement, people with lived and living experience, indigenous leaders and communities, professionals and regulatory bodies, and health care providers to stop the needless harm and deaths of people in Canada.
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