SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 113

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 19, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22
Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)
  • Oct/19/22 2:18:49 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, on October 15, at 7 p.m., families light candles in recognition of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day to remember these losses, as well as to acknowledge the unique grief that bereaved parents experience. It can be difficult for others to understand the magnitude of grief that accompanies these losses. The stigma and societal silence around infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth and the death of infants can make it difficult to speak out. People often feel isolated in their grief. I recently met with members of the Victoria Butterfly Run and the Healing Hearts Foundation. They are community members who have experienced loss, organizing through their shared grief to support one another. These organizations have been doing tremendous work to ensure that families who share this lived experience do not suffer alone. Peer support and access to professional counselling for pregnancy loss and infant loss is not universally accessible. This is one of the many reasons that we need a national perinatal health mental health strategy, one that includes these families. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Let us come together to support the families who experience this kind of devastating loss.
195 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Oct/19/22 8:06:55 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, this spring, the government had a chance to listen to the experts and act on the toxic drug crisis that is taking a tragic toll on our communities every day. In my riding, in the small community of Port Alberni in the Alberni Valley with just over 30,000 people, we lost 20 people in just the first eight months of this year due to the toxic drug supply. These deaths were preventable and each person lost has loved ones who are left to deal with that grief in the face of government failure. That is four times the national average. Across the country, we lost over 7,500 lives just last year. Shamefully, we have lost more than 30,000 lives since 2016. I heard the question from people who have been impacted by this crisis. They ask, “How many lives is it going to take before there is real action?” I worry that those with the power to bring change are becoming numb to these numbers. We must never lose sight of the fact that these numbers represent children, siblings, parents, partners, friends and neighbours. The day this House rose for the summer, the Public Health Agency of Canada released modelling, forecasting, that the toxic drug crisis would continue its tragic path and possibly even worsen over the rest of the year. The agency predicted that we might lose as many as 2,400 Canadians per quarter. These are real lives. While we all returned to our communities for three months this summer, more than 2,000 families were planning funerals that did not need to happen. They did not need to happen because last year Health Canada's expert task force on substance use made clear recommendations on how to respond to this crisis. Those recommendations included stopping the criminalization of people who use drugs, making significant new investments in supports for people who use drugs and who are in recovery, and expanding safer supply. Our bill, Bill C-216, a health-based approach to substance use, reflected the paradigm shift the expert task force called for to stop the harm in our communities. However, instead of listening to its own task force, the Liberal government teamed up with the Conservatives to vote down Bill C-216. In the face of a public health emergency that has been worsening for years, the Liberal government is choosing an ineffective piecemeal response because of stigma and politics. Every day, the government has an opportunity to make a different choice. By granting B.C.'s decriminalization request, the government has acknowledged the harms of criminalizing people who use drugs, yet it continues to allow these harms in every other province and territory in this country. The Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has acknowledged that funding for the substance use and addictions program is not enough to meet the demand, but the government will not put enough money on the table to ensure people can get help when they need it. The minister has acknowledged the critical role that a safer supply must play in addressing this crisis, but the government remains focused on small-scale pilot projects rather than procuring a safer supply that could save lives across the country. When will the government finally act like this is a life-or-death matter for thousands of Canadians each day and mount an urgent national response? When?
572 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border