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Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Feb/8/22 6:46:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for starting off tonight's take-note debate. This is a very serious subject in my home province of British Columbia, as was raised by the previous questioner. In 2016 and 2017, former minister of finance Bill Morneau put in his budget $50 million every year and touted this as a new approach for dealing with opioids. Just to break down the numbers, it was $50 million a year for five successive years, broken down by 10 provinces and three territories. Places such as Princeton, or even more urban areas such as Kelowna, do not show that the resources from the federal government are being fairly distributed. Neither the new minister nor the new finance minister has put in place a comprehensive plan to deal with this. I have a question for the minister. What has the minister done differently? I ask because people in my home province of British Columbia, especially during this pandemic, have suffered. Their families have suffered. I have been told time and again there are not the resources, and that no federal or provincial government cares about this problem. Can the minister start off by addressing that?

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

Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Feb/8/22 7:09:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is certainly sad that I have to rise today, because I rose in this chamber to speak to this same subject in 2019. In the winter of 2019, we had an emergency debate on opioids, and we are here again. I know we are going to hear a lot of stories, very personal ones like the one we just heard from my Conservative colleague. However, I want to note more than anything that this problem has not been solved. I asked the minister earlier what new improvements she has made, and I did not get a clear picture. Maybe that falls on me, but we are still here. I have some stories, because in my riding we have rural areas that have been forgotten about, and whether it be the flooding or the opioids, they need to be considered. I bring a story today from my riding that many people may not want to hear and may consider partisan, but these are the stories we hear. I do hope that all members will listen. They can hold me accountable if they do not like the story, but this is something I promised a father I would tell. Unfortunately, this pandemic has made a bad situation in my riding worse. We here in Ottawa in this place are partly responsible for that, and I would like to explain why. I will never forget meeting with a father who wanted to share with me the story of his 19-year-old daughter. She was a recovered drug addict who had been clean for over a year. She was finishing up her courses to graduate from high school and she had a part-time job. Her family was happy to have their daughter back. Then COVID came along, and I hate to say this, but then came programs like the Canada emergency response benefit. Now, despite living at home and being fully supported, this 19-year-old was able to apply and receive it. Sadly, receiving $2,000 a month with few expenses proved to be too much to handle. A relapse occurred, and all the progress that family had made and that she had made was lost. I do not want to share the rest of the story, because the details are too saddening. However, not long after I met with the father, I heard from an RCMP officer who shared with me the frustration of being the first on the scene of a recently deceased individual. Their CERB cheque was freshly cashed and the balance of the funds after buying drugs was still in their pocket. This individual had died of an opioid drug overdose. This is not particular to the stories shared with me personally. As the Penticton Herald reported in May 2020 in an article called “Relief money refuelling opioid crisis”, operators of supportive housing facilities, places where people go to try to rebuild their lives, saw this too. To quote from the article, “the money has inadvertently refuelled the pre-existing opioid drug crisis, says the operator of the Burdock House and Fairhaven social housing projects in Penticton.” It goes on: “In some buildings, we’ve seen double-overdoses in a day with the same person”. Let me underline one particular quote: “But what we also see is people with such severe addictions that have no ability to emotionally regulate or behaviourally regulate (receiving) what for them is a vast sum of money.” I will pass on one more quote, because this has to be heard: “We just emerged after a very, very challenging time working with this population with regards to the COVID-19 crisis, and now we're dealing with basically a financial windfall that has beset this population and is further compromising their ability to seek any form of recovery.” Make no mistake. The CERB played a role in destroying these people's recovery and, in many cases, tragically ended their lives. Obviously, no one in this place ever wants to see that happen. I am confident when I say that all of us who voted in support of some of these measures did so at the time with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, what was not known to many of us was the exact manner the Liberal government would decide to deliver them and what safeguards were put in place to help protect the most vulnerable. Now we know there were none. As the operator of one supportive housing facility stated, “None of the people living at this facility met the criteria for the CERB, but there was nothing preventing them from receiving it.” I have more to say on this issue, but I want to point out that when we do things in this place, they do affect things back home. I would like to see the government tackle this with new policy. Many New Democrats and many Conservatives want to see the government change its approach. I understand that the government does not have the answers to everything, but let us first promise ourselves to first do no harm. I appreciate that these stories are hard to hear, but I look forward to hearing more of them. I thank everyone for their kind attention.

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

Mr. Dan Albas

Feb/8/22 7:15:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the member for Victoria is a fellow British Columbian and someone who listens intently to constituents. I promised this family that I would raise their story today. What I am saying is that whatever we do, let us make sure that the other actions we take here in this place do not add fuel to the fire. As earnest as the member for Courtenay—Alberni is in his private member's bill, two years ago we had a debate and we are back here today. The government has a new minister responsible for addictions, yet it is not the government producing new legislation and doing this; it is other members. For a comprehensive approach, a transformative approach, ultimately the government has to do something different. Then we can debate it. It should not be up to private members to try to fix everything, because they do not have an army of researchers, experts and lawyers who can help them craft changes. The government needs to start putting in policy or start explaining why it is not working.

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

Mr. Dan Albas

Feb/8/22 7:18:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the member is here to share stories. My home province of British Columbia put in place a minister for addictions several years ago, and now the Prime Minister has done the same thing with his government in this new cabinet. We have two governments that say they care about this. We have two governments that say they understand the problem. We have two governments that say, “but, but, but”. They have to start answering the question. They cannot just point to words. I know this is an opposition thing to say, but the government, more than any other government ever seen, is good at words and very bad at actions. The Liberals do not explain themselves. Thousands of families are without a loved one and the government keeps saying, “but, but, but”. It should not be up to individual members to put forward legislation. I feel for the member for Courtenay—Alberni. He is trying his best. However, the government and the provincial government in my home province need to finish the sentence. They need to tell people why they are not. Is it because they need to raise taxes, or is it because the changes they have are too controversial? We need an answer and more action if they really mean it.

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