Hon. Yuen Pau Woo: Honourable senators, I’m pleased to lend my voice in support of Bill S-232. I want to start by reminding honourable colleagues about a public health emergency that has been with us for seven years and which shows no sign of abating. I am referring to the public health emergency on toxic drugs declared by British Columbia in 2016, a year in which there were 19,275 overdose or poisoning calls in my province.

Sadly, the declaration of a public health emergency was prescient. The number of overdose/poisoning calls went up to 23,441 in 2017, to 23,662 in 2018, to 24,166 in 2019 and, just to skip a few years, to 33,654 in 2022. There was a 5% drop in overdose/poisoning calls between 2021 and 2022, but I think you will agree that having over 30,000 such incidents in a year is shocking and unacceptable.

At the start of this year, Health Canada granted an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to the Province of B.C. from January 31, 2023, to January 31, 2026, for adults in the province to not be subject to criminal charges for the personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs. According to the British Columbian government, decriminalization is not associated with increased rates of substance use. It is, however, expected to help reduce the barriers and stigma that prevent people from accessing life-saving supports and services.

The Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in B.C. has said that there is no evidence suggesting decriminalization of possession of up to 2.5 grams of illicit drugs for adults 18 or older has led to an increase of the consumption of illicit drugs in public spaces.

As I mentioned earlier, this exemption came into effect at the end of January this year and will last for three years. It is this example from my province of British Columbia that persuades me to support Senator Boniface’s bill on a framework for decriminalization of certain illegal substances. But I would stress that the decriminalization of such substances cannot be undertaken in isolation. It has to be accompanied by support structures as well as a safe supply of drugs so that those who use them are not left hanging.

Much has been said about how severe this crisis is, not only in my home province of British Columbia and in the major cities of this country — particularly Vancouver and Toronto — but, as Senator Boniface has reminded us, also in small towns across the country and, indeed, all regions of Canada. I would just underscore that substance use disorder is a public health issue. It is not a criminal justice issue.

The Expert Task Force on Substance Use has unanimously recommended an end to criminal sanctions related to simple possession of controlled substances. We should build on this expert recommendation to encourage the government to further develop this framework. There is evidence — as was found in British Columbia — that decriminalization for simple possession is an effective way to reduce the public health and public safety harms associated with substance use.

There is, however, a need for alternatives to criminal sanctions, which require integrated partnerships and access to diversion measures. Diversion approaches:

. . . provide opportunities to make positive community impacts, including reducing recidivism, reducing ancillary crimes and improving health and safety outcomes for individuals who use illegal substances . . .

What I’ve just recited is the preamble to Senator Boniface’s bill, and I agree wholeheartedly with all of these propositions.

We’ve had this bill on our Order Paper since 2021. There have been four or five speakers already. It is high time that we send this to committee for detailed study.

Colleagues, there is a public health emergency in our country right now. It is not going away and will not be wished away. We need to take concrete actions that allow us to come up with new approaches to addressing this diabolical problem.

With that, Your Honour, I conclude my short speech and encourage us all to consider sending this to committee as soon as possible. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

Hon. Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia: Honourable senators, today I rise to speak in support of my colleague Senator Stan Kutcher’s Motion No. 113 to authorize the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology to study health misinformation, its impacts on Canadians and potential remedies. Today, I would like to focus my time on discussing some of what we currently know about vaccine hesitancy and misinformation in Canada, its causes and potential solutions.

As the world continues to work through the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinations continue to play a critical role in keeping our communities safe. We must recognize that the pandemic had a once-in-a-generation impact. It is inevitable that there would be diverse viewpoints on such a seismic event. Unfortunately, in a digitized age, it is easier than ever before for those with views based on misinformation — whether intentionally so or not — to spread their message. At this time — when the need for vaccine uptake is at an ultimate high — vaccine hesitancy has only grown, and continues to increase not only for COVID-19 vaccines, but also for other routine immunizations. In effect, this creates windows of opportunity for the spread of preventable diseases — many of which we’ve even forgotten about — and the attendant risk to human life.

While it is true that any vaccine may have varying side effects as it is introduced to an individual’s immune system, overall vaccines remain a safe and critical way to prevent severe diseases and save lives. We have known this since Edward Jenner first developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796, which later eradicated the disease. From the beginning of the development of the first vaccines until today, humanity has continued to witness the strengths and benefits of vaccines, as they have prevented mass deaths from diseases like polio, measles, rubella, tetanus and hepatitis B.

In the past few decades, recently developed vaccines have provided people with safety against diseases like shingles; increased access to protection against HPV; and given children protection from the painful childhood disease — which I’m sure many of us have experienced — chicken pox. Just last week, Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work that enabled the development of effective vaccines against COVID-19 using the mRNA technology.

New vaccines are currently being developed, and give us hope for the prevention of future pain and suffering. As researchers work hard to find protection for the world’s most vulnerable populations from diseases like malaria and HIV, we must stay vigilant in ensuring that public trust in vaccines and scientific research is not tarnished by misinformation. The hard work of doctors, scientists and researchers to prevent the spread of these diseases will only be realized if the vaccines are taken up by the public, and proper protocol is developed and employed to ensure accurate education about the benefits and potential side effects — I repeat, potential side effects — of any given vaccine, given the fact that nothing is 100% proven.

Global trust in data-driven science is critical for the safety and health of all populations across our globe, and to prevent societies from backsliding into preventable health crises. UNICEF has reported that the public perception of the importance of vaccines for children has declined through the pandemic in 52 of the 55 countries it studied. One of those countries, unfortunately, is Canada. UNICEF has indicated that factors contributing to this decline include “. . . uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, and political polarization.”

This increase in vaccine hesitancy coincides with an increase in preventable diseases among children who are unvaccinated. UNICEF has reported that the number of measles cases in the world doubled in 2022, and the number of children with polio increased by 16% over the previous year.

The spread of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, along with more generalized fear mongering and misinformation about other vaccines, is of great concern. Confidence in vaccinations has been declining in Canada to the detriment of the health of our communities and our children as we see outbreaks of preventable diseases here in our own nation. Well-proven vaccines are being baselessly attacked in some circles, with fewer people accessing them — leading to preventable childhood diseases, like tetanus and measles, that have a negative impact on communities and those who are unfortunately impacted.

We also know that many of the children in Canada who missed vaccines throughout the pandemic live in communities that are often marginalized or in hardship areas. However, we have evidence from various studies that shows us there are ways to support Canadians who are hesitant about vaccines, and to rebuild the trust in our public health system.

According to recent surveys through the Public Health Agency of Canada, the most trusted source of information on vaccine safety continues to be medical health professionals. Among those who were hesitant about vaccines, the most common path that led to them choosing to have their children vaccinated was the discussions they had with their doctors, nurse practitioners, public health nurses and other public health representatives. These findings are reassuring in that they emphasize the significant role that public health care workers play in dispelling myths about vaccines and educating community members about the safety, efficacy and significance of vaccination and immunization.

In my own experience with children in Newfoundland and Labrador, I have always been impressed with how vigilant our public health nurses are and continue to be in ensuring that children’s immunization records are well-kept and that those who are missing immunizations are followed up and vaccinated in a timely manner. Where hesitancy comes up, appropriate consultation with health care providers is arranged.

The incidents of preventable childhood diseases in Newfoundland and Labrador are very low, and I believe this reflects the solid foundation of community immunization that has been established by a rich tradition of public health nurses and physicians.

This is an example of the strength of community-based efforts in public health education in support of vaccination. Establishing and re-establishing trust in vaccines is critical in protecting the health and well-being of all of our communities.

Honourable senators, it is important that we learn more about the effects of misinformation on vaccines and public health across the communities we represent in this country. I thank Senator Kutcher for opening this platform to dialogue and bringing forward such an important initiative. And for those of you who have not yet had your shingles vaccine, my prescription pad is ready and waiting. Thank you, meegwetch.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Woo, calling the attention of the Senate to the one hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the contributions that Chinese Canadians have made to our country and the need to combat contemporary forms of exclusion and discrimination faced by Canadians of Asian descent.