44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2023 10:00AM
- May/18/23 10:07:00 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, your home, my home, our home, let us bring it home and reform medical cannabis licences. Licences for the production of medical cannabis are often abused, with production in excess of personal amounts diverted for commercial sale on the black market. The amount of cannabis individuals are authorized to possess for medical purposes is impossible for an individual to personally consume. Grow-ops in residential neighbourhoods across British Columbia have negative impacts on nearby residents' health and well-being, such as excessive smells, frequent traffic and reduced property values.
The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to reform the licensing and oversight of the production of cannabis for personal medical use and its production in residential homes.
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- May/18/23 10:55:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I represent Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, which is in the Fraser Health region. In British Columbia, the most deaths from opioids took place in the Fraser Health region. In 2022, 680 people died in the Fraser Health region. Since the implementation of the decriminalization policy of the Liberal government, those deaths have only increased.
I have a very specific question today for the minister. Part of the agreement, when the government decided to decriminalize hard drugs in British Columbia, was that there would be enforcement for schools and places where children frequent and that the policies of decriminalizations would not apply.
A week after the government decriminalized, my son's day care had to be shut down because people were injecting illicit substances and leaving things behind. I could not take my son to day care that day. He goes to a school in downtown Abbotsford.
What policies have been put in place to enforce areas where children frequent to ensure they are not exposed to illicit drugs? We are normalizing illicit drugs in our country and I want to know what the minister is going to do to stop that.
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- May/18/23 11:10:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in her speech, the member opposite just said that we need to help keep people alive until they are ready to receive treatment.
I represent the Fraser health region. We had the highest number of deaths caused by opioids last year, and we are on track to pass that number again. Under this policy, it is like death has become normalized.
I agree with part of the member's speech in that we need to have a comprehensive approach. However, right now in British Columbia, there is no comprehensive approach. In fact, in the Fraser health region, there are only eight detox beds. What we have done in Canada is normalize the use of hard drugs without providing any option or capacity for people who want to receive care to get it on demand.
Why has the government failed to provide detox beds in the areas of Canada where there is the highest number of deaths caused by illicit opioids?
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- May/18/23 2:59:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the decriminalization of hard drugs by the Liberals and NDP, we have seen a record number of opioid deaths in the province of British Columbia. Not only that, the government has failed to uphold its part in the agreement as it relates to the protection of children. Why has the government not done more to protect kids from exposure to crack pipes and needles at schools and parks across British Columbia, despite its still being illegal?
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- May/18/23 5:12:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during today's debate, the Liberals have been conflating safe supply and safe consumption sites. They are two separate policies. The reality is that the member for Brampton Centre said safe consumption sites saved 45,000 lives.
However, anyone who has spent some time on the Downtown Eastside or in the Fraser Health region in my community, which has even higher overdose death rates than Vancouver, knows that someone who has an overdose could receive good care from there, but that is not preventing them from accessing and using fentanyl and other illicit drugs in conjunction with the free drugs they are getting from safe supply providers.
If the policies the government is pushing so hard are good, why do the death rates continue to increase in my community? Why do the death rates across British Columbia continue to increase? Why have the death rates continued to increase since the government decriminalized fentanyl?
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