SoVote

Feb/8/22 2:08:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a unique collaboration between two remarkable Yukon women, Morgan Wienberg and Kelly Milner, is poised to change how the world looks at international orphanages and child exploitation. In 2010 after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, a young high school graduate called Morgan Wienberg travelled to help. Ten years later, Morgan has slowly unravelled the story of corruption in many child orphanages, not just in Haiti but around the world. While helping to reunite children with their rightful families, Morgan founded a small organization called Little Footprints Big Steps that aims to protect children coerced into so-called orphanages and reunite them with their families. This journey and Morgan’s call to action to stop voluntourism and address human trafficking in orphanages around the world is explored in Yukon filmmaker Kelly Milner’s documentary film, Not About Me. As Morgan and Kelly continue to raise this critical issue, it is time for us to rethink and reform our support for foreign orphanages.

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Context: House Hansard - 26 - Feb/8/22

Mr. Brendan Hanley (Yukon, Lib.)

Feb/8/22 6:49:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for allowing me to share her time. I thank her for all she has done so far in her new role as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Two days ago, there was another burial in Yukon after yet another fentanyl overdose death. This was not just a person. This was somebody's child. In the Yukon, mothers and fathers are burying their children. Children are losing their parents before they are old enough to know what is going on. These people should not be dying. Parents should not have to bury their children. Children should not have to become orphans because of overdose deaths. In Yukon last month, eight people died of an overdose. I can tell members that the scale of eight lives lost in rapid succession sent us reeling, and it is enough for Yukon to continue to lead the country by far in per capita deaths. We feel the pain of these deaths. We know that each of these deaths was preventable. For very complex reasons, people took a single dose of a toxic drug and died. They often died alone. They died seeking a last high. They died without realizing that this high would be the last ever, or worse, they died not caring because the high was more important than the risk of dying. In our small territory, we all know someone who has died, or someone who is close to someone who has died. Opioids have struck in urban and rural settings, in first nations and non-indigenous settings. The vulnerable and the known addicted have succumbed, as have successful sons and daughters, aspiring students, professionals and elders. We are witnessing the death of all manner of people. No class, no race, no group of people has been spared. In the past weeks in Yukon, some first nations, particularly Mayo and Carcross, and citizens of Vuntut Gwitchin in Old Crow, have been hit hard. People already grieving from pandemic strains and losses now have to endure the unimaginable grief of young ones lost to sudden, drug-driven deaths. In Canada, we have lost more than 25,000 people to overdoses since 2016. Opioids kill 20 Canadians a day. I was serving as Yukon's chief medical officer of health back in 2016, when the first fentanyl fatality occurred in the territory. Since then, we have introduced many improvements in prevention and care, and much of our progress occurred thanks to the work of community partners and the support of Yukon's government. Much of it was through federal spending and support. In fact, if it were not for the array of solutions we have put in place since the onset of the opioid epidemic, such as better clinical management of addiction, increased awareness, take-home naloxone, and harm reduction measures, this crisis would have been far worse. We have also had groundbreaking interventions, such as the Kwanlin Dün first nation community officer safety program. It has saved lives in that community, and is a program that could be amplified around the territory, but we must do more. The scope of the crisis exceeds our efforts to solve it. The opioid crisis requires intervention on the scale of the pandemic. The debate tonight is an opportunity to share how this opioid crisis has touched our lives and our communities. It is an opportunity to share our concerns and our ideas of the steps we can take to address it. It is an opportunity to talk about best practices in Canada and around the world, and to consider where we can go from here. No single government or body can solve this crisis alone. We need all hands on deck, including the voices of people who use drugs, to continue to keep us honest. We need everyone, every level of government, experts in addiction medicine, harm reduction and mental health, community and indigenous leaders engaged in a dialogue and looking to address this crisis. Sometimes legislative and strategic changes are required as well as a debate about making the required changes. I look forward to participating in those debates in the House, and we need every option on the table. We must learn for this country to handle simultaneous crises. Like a busy global emergency ward, we no longer have the luxury of only one emergency at a time. What gives me hope is that we have successes around this country, and we have experts and evidence that tell us there is much more we can do to save lives and to protect our children. Let us work together across the country and protect Canadians from a toxic drug supply. We can work together, and we can save lives.

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Context: House Hansard - 26 - Feb/8/22

Mr. Brendan Hanley

Feb/8/22 6:54:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for highlighting the important private member's bill from the member opposite. I support the development of a bill that looks at the spectrum of the opioid crisis in the country, as well as at what policy options we should be looking at, including, as the minister referred to, the question of decriminalization and supporting people toward a safe supply. In my previous role as CMOH, I spoke many times to the subject of decriminalization and ensuring people had a safe supply when they were using drugs. I look forward to working with members on the development of this private member's bill.

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Context: House Hansard - 26 - Feb/8/22

Mr. Brendan Hanley

Feb/8/22 6:57:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge the struggles that northern B.C. and the entire province are facing. I look forward to working with the members opposite on the development and passage through process, including in my role on HESA, the health committee, and to seeing it reviewed and studied there. I believe the tenets in the bill are important ones to address the urgent nature of the opioid crisis in our country, and this is an avenue for a way forward.

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