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House Hansard - 272

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 31, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 272 - Jan/31/24
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Jan/31/24 5:40:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present a petition on behalf of many constituents who are deeply concerned about the opioid crisis and the unacceptably high number of deaths. It is almost unbelievable that nearly 14,000 people have had opioid-related deaths since 2016. In particular, British Columbians are very concerned. A number of the founders of Moms Stop the Harm come from British Columbia and, indeed, from my riding on Pender Island. The petitioners call for the government to, at long last, declare a public health emergency because of overdose deaths, or poisoning deaths, in Canada; to treat this as what it is, which is a health crisis, not a criminal justice crisis; to address the crisis in a comprehensive, multi-faceted way as one that involves issues of addiction, poverty, housing, health care, racial discrimination, economic inequality and instability; and listen to the advice of many experts, who say that drugs should be decriminalized in Canada.
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