Unfortunately, Sudbury has one of the highest opioid overdose death rates in the province. Speaker, 112 people died last year in Sudbury-Manitoulin—that is nine deaths a month, which is three times the provincial average.

The Spot, Réseau Sudbury’s supervised consumption site, saves lives. They’ve had almost 1,000 visits and reversed all 15 overdoses that happened on-site. Despite the life-saving work, the workers at the Spot received layoff notices, and the Spot will be forced to close by the end of the year. That’s because they haven’t received a single dime of provincial funding from the Conservative government. People in my city are dying. This is a provincial responsibility. The city of Sudbury has already contributed almost $1 million to keeping the Spot open. They can’t afford to do it anymore. And they should never have had to pay the Premier’s bills in the first place.

Réseau has been waiting since August 2021 to hear about provincial funding—that’s more than two years. Opioid overdose deaths aren’t waiting for the Conservative government to decide to get into the fight.

My question: How many more people in the north have to die before the Conservative government gets off the sidelines and provides this life-saving funding?

Interjections.