- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Board of Internal Economy
Chief opposition whip
Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
- Conservative
- South Surrey—White Rock
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $130,172.43
- Government Page
- May/9/24 1:34:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I categorically reject the premise of the member's question, and I resent the implications.
We are talking about human beings. We are talking about children. We are talking about mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who are at risk. We are talking about a crisis of opioid and other drug overdose deaths in this country. I am from a province where it is so out of control that the provincial government has had to come back to the federal Liberal government to say, “Put a circle around it because it is chaos.”
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- May/9/24 1:21:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister, aided and abetted by the NDP, has spent nine years implementing his radical vision of Canada. He would like everyone to believe that this agenda is normal.
There is record food bank usage, out-of-control gas prices and a housing market that has priced young Canadians out of the dream of home ownership. The government is censoring the Internet by controlling what people can see or say online. There is a 39% increase in violent crime; catch-and-release bail that sees offenders arrested in the morning, out by noon, and then rearrested later that very same day; and the legalization of meth, cocaine, heroin and opioids in British Columbia. Parents are worried that their children could step on used needles in a playground. None of this is normal. These are the outcomes of the radical policies brought to us by the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister. His legacy is one of crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. The results of his hard-drug legalization experiment and taxpayer-funded narcotics policy have been tragic but entirely predictable.
Since 2015, over 42,000 Canadians have died from drug overdoses. Opioid overdose deaths have increased 186% across Canada under the Prime Minister's watch. A record 2,500 British Columbians died from drug overdoses last year. That is up 380% in nine years. That is six entirely preventable deaths, every day, of friends and colleagues, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. Each of them had a story, and every one of these deaths is a tragedy. These are human beings.
Drug overdose is now the number one cause of death in B.C., with more fatalities than crime, accidents and disease combined. It is also the number one cause of death among kids aged 10 to 17. I have 11-year-old twin grandsons. This is personal, and this is not normal.
The story of 14-year-old Kamilah Sword of Port Coquitlam is heartbreaking. Kamilah tragically overdosed in her bedroom in August 2022. According to her father, the coroner found three drugs in her system: MDMA, cocaine and hydromorphone. Hydromorphone is an opiate prescribed under B.C.'s so-called safe supply program.
Kamilah's friends reported that they have witnessed children as young as 11 years of age using hydromorphone. This is completely unacceptable. The street price of hydromorphone has fallen close to 90%, from $20 to two dollars per pill. Basically, any kid can buy them.
How many more children have to die before the government reverses course? Our common-sense, Conservative motion before the House today calls on the Prime Minister to end this unsafe supply program and redirect this money into treatment and recovery programs for those addicted to drugs. This is common sense. This is compassion. The radical approach of the NDP-Liberal government is making the addiction crisis worse and does not put those struggling with addiction on a path to recovery. That should always be the goal. The government's approach only pumps more hard drugs onto our streets, killing our citizens, destroying our families and tearing our communities apart.
The over supply of these free drugs gets in the hands of organized crime, which then sells them to children. If one gets them for free, any return is a profit.
Addictions workers confirm that most users of so-called safe supply are diverting these drugs and reselling them across the country. This is government-funded drug trafficking.
How is this for insanity? In Prince George, the police ran a 10-day surveillance operation on a woman who stood outside a downtown IDA Pharmacy every morning trading her so-called safe supply drugs for harder drugs. Police reported dozens of hand-to-hand transactions. The pharmacy manager told the RCMP that patients are given up to 28 hydromorphone pills per day, equating to approximately $480 a day if resold. He also reported that many patients are accosted by people outside the pharmacy wanting to purchase the safe supply drugs. The insanity is the brainchild of big pharma.
The term “safe supply” is big pharma's sales jargon, its propaganda, meant to secure government contracts and pad the industry's burgeoning pockets. Let us be clear: Safe supply is a lie. There is nothing safe about fentanyl. The radical NDP-Liberal government bought the big lie, and now Canadians are paying the price in dollars and in deaths.
Canadians have the right to know how much they are paying to fuel the crisis. The government refuses to release its contracts with big pharma, covering up the huge cost of this reckless experiment. The radical government does not get it. Its policies are killing Canadians, and it clearly does not care. Despite the death, crime and carnage, the Prime Minister has not ruled out replicating B.C.'s failed drug experiment in other jurisdictions across the country.
Our motion calls on the Prime Minister to proactively reject the City of Toronto’s request to legalize deadly hard drugs like crack, cocaine, heroin and meth. The motion further calls on him to deny any future requests from provinces, territories and municipalities seeking federal approval to legalize hard drugs in their jurisdiction. We do not need to export the drug chaos in B.C. to other jurisdictions.
The Prime Minister should never have granted a reckless exemption to B.C. to allow open, “in your face” hard drug use in public places. Parks, beaches, transit, sports fields, coffee shops and playgrounds in B.C. have become drug-infested nightmares. A two-year-old girl was hospitalized after putting a discarded needle in her mouth at a park. Even our hospitals, once a beacon of safety, are now lawless spaces where health care workers and patients are put at risk.
The B.C. Nurses' Union is sounding the alarm for its members. Patients and staff have been exposed to harmful hard drugs. Meth was even being smoked in a unit just hours after the birth of a newborn baby. This breaks my heart. It should break everyone's hearts. A nurse in Campbell River said she had been exposed to smoke from hard drugs six times. How in God’s name is the government allowing this to happen? I cannot believe I have to say this, but hospitals should be sanctuaries of healing and care, not places of lawlessness and chaos.
After nine years, the extremist NDP-Liberal government is not worth the drugs, disorder and death. Only a common-sense Conservative government will end unsupervised and unprescribed use of hard drugs in hospitals. We will end taxpayer-funded narcotics that are killing our children and poisoning our communities. We will focus on treating Canadians struggling with addiction, providing a path to recovery so we can bring our loved ones home drug-free.
Hope must be restored. Unlike the radical NDP-Liberal government, we will not give up on people. It is compassion and common sense. The extreme, deadly drug experiment must end and never be repeated.
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- May/7/24 3:02:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, does the Prime Minister care that 42,000 Canadians have died from a drug overdose? The taxpayer-funded supply of hard drugs has destroyed lives. Addiction workers confirm that most users of so-called safe supply are diverting these drugs into the hands of organized crime. Criminals are selling these drugs to children. Overdose is the number one cause of death in 10 to 17-year-olds in B.C.
When will the Prime Minister end this dangerous drug trafficking experiment that profits big pharma and kills children?
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- Apr/29/24 3:53:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I also rise to request an emergency debate on the Prime Minister's dangerous and failed drug decriminalization policy. The House heard the Leader of the Opposition speak about the gravity, that it is a grave and urgent matter, and I agree with that. I particularly agree with it as a British Columbian.
B.C. Premier David Eby and his NDP government have finally admitted that these extremist policies are a failure, and now, he has come begging for major changes to the Prime Minister's hard drug decriminalization plan. For Canadians watching who are not from B.C., this plan allows for opioids, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines to be used in public spaces such as parks, coffee shops, one's local Tim Hortons, public transit and even hospitals.
When this policy began in 2023, the province set a devastating record. In that one year, there were over 2,500 drug deaths. After nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, more than 40,000 Canadians have tragically died from drug overdoses; those are 40,000 completely preventable deaths.
Taxpayer-funded drugs continue to be handed out by the radical Liberal government, and those deadly drugs are increasingly diverted into the hands of organized crime and into the hands of teenagers, pushing our youth into the destructive cycle of addiction. We see videos about this pretty much daily out of British Columbia. Drug overdose is now the number one cause of death for 10-year-olds to 17-year-olds in B.C. That is pretty devastating.
Until the Prime Minister's extremist drug decriminalization policy is dismantled, it will continue to cause death, chaos and carnage across Canada. Parliament has a responsibility to attend to the ongoing destruction caused by this deadly hard drug policy. I understood from the minister earlier today in question period that they have Premier Eby's request under review. As the Leader of the Opposition just said, every day of review means six more deaths; that is every day.
I trust my request will be considered as the emergency and crisis that it is. In order to save lives, to rebuild families, to eliminate chaos in our streets and to start putting more money into treatment and recovery from drug addiction, we must put an end to these dangerous and deadly policies immediately. I repeat that it is six lives per day, every day. The time to turn this hurt into hope starts now. Please consider this as the urgent matter that it is.
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- Apr/29/24 2:34:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk through a clear lens. The number of Canadians who have died from drug overdoses since 2015 is 40,000. They were entirely preventable.
Last year, B.C. set a record with over 2,500 overdose deaths, and the Liberals want to talk about saving lives and compassion. Premier Eby and the Prime Minister have failed British Columbians, and now the Prime Minister is taking his deadly experiment to Toronto. Until the extremist drug policy is dismantled, people will keep dying.
Will the Prime Minister prioritize recovery and stop killing Canadians with his radical ideology?
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- May/18/23 4:14:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
Today, we are addressing the health of our nation. After eight years of the Prime Minister, everything feels broken, especially in my home province of British Columbia. Drugs, disorder and violent crime are all on the rise in our neighbourhoods. People are lining up at food banks in record numbers because they cannot afford groceries. Many cannot afford a home, and, worst of all, the opioid crisis is claiming the lives of our sons and daughters. Under the watch of the Prime Minister, there have been 34,000 opioid deaths, and that number is growing by the day. In B.C. alone, overdose deaths are up 330%, by far the worst rate of all the provinces.
The B.C. coroner released a report today, saying that 206 people died of overdose in April. That is 206 people, including one at a safe injection site, who died in one month. The report said that 70% of victims were between the ages of 30 and 59. People in that age bracket should be buying a home, having children and enjoying a successful career. Instead, in the Prime Minister's Canada, they are chasing their next hit. Why is that? It is because all three levels of government, including the federal Liberals, the provincial NDP, this NDP caucus and left-wing mayors and councils, have decriminalized illicit drugs, flooded the streets with so-called safe supply and failed to create the treatment and connection needed for people suffering with addictions to build a drug-free life.
Over 800 people have died in the first four months of this year. If overdose deaths continue at this pace, we could lose up to 2,400 British Columbians this year. Death by overdose cannot be normalized. Instead, we need treatment and recovery. These programs will help those struggling with addictions and we need them now.
The Liberal-NDP coalition is flooding our streets with drugs and supercharging this opioid crisis. One Global News reporter took to the streets of Vancouver to find out where all these safe supply drugs are going. The reporter was able to buy 26 hits of safe supply drugs for only $30, in just 30 minutes, in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Outreach workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside claim that the safe supply hydromorphone tablets can be bought for as little as 25¢ per pill on the streets. It is no wonder that the B.C. coroner reports that seven people per day are dying from drug overdoses in my province.
This heavy amount of free drugs on our streets perpetuates the addiction cycle, prolongs suffering and prevents recovery. It is leading to more deaths, not fewer. How many more Canadians must die before the Prime Minister learns that treatment, not free drugs, saves lives? We need to help get people off drugs so that they can effectively address their addiction issues, enjoy improved health, reconnect with family, get jobs and become contributing members of society.
Let us be clear. The government's radical agenda is fuelling the opioid crisis. It uses the term “safe supply” as though it were a medical term, but, in truth, that phrase is nothing more than marketing jargon used by big pharma. Let us speak the truth. There is nothing safe about safe supply.
The Liberal and NDP drug pushers point to other jurisdictions that have decriminalized hard drugs to justify their radical agenda. For example, they say that Portugal set the gold standard for decriminalization of illicit drugs, but they forgot to mention that Portugal ensured that treatment and recovery services were expanded before they changed the laws. They also omit that health outcomes in Portugal have worsened since that country decreased treatment services.
What is worse is that they are ignoring a made-in-Canada model that is saving lives in Alberta. That province has become a beacon of hope for how lives can be turned around, with professional, caring drug treatment services. I hear members clapping; it is worth clapping for. Overdose deaths are down in that jurisdiction by 30%, while B.C. overdose deaths continue to climb.
We know that merely providing safe supply drugs will never get people out of an addiction cycle. When Conservatives form government, we will follow Alberta's example by building world-class recovery communities and implementing similar services around the country to save lives.
We also need to consider the impact that the so-called safe supply program is having on our youth. On the streets of Vancouver, people living with addictions are selling these cheap drugs to kids. They then use the money to buy stronger, deadlier fentanyl. Impressionable youth are accessing this cheap, plentiful supply of highly addictive drugs as a gateway to harder, more dangerous substances. In plain terms, the safe supply program is a direct threat to the lives of our youth.
A report from the B.C. coroner confirmed that overdose victims are trending younger and that opioid addiction among B.C.'s youth is increasing. Speaking as a mother, I say that we cannot allow the government to ignore the evidence when our teenaged sons and daughters are lying face down on a sidewalk in a zombie-like state. Safe supply drugs are putting youth on the path to hard-core addictions, and this needs to stop. Too many parents have lost children to drug overdoses in this country.
The story of Jack Bodie, from Burnaby, is far too common. Jack was a productive and active 17-year-old boy who was deeply loved by his family. Tragically, Jack snorted half a pill laced with fentanyl. Inhaling the drug slowed down Jack's breathing and heartbeat, and within minutes, his entire system shut down and he passed away. Jack's death sent his family into deep and profound grief. His dad, now a treatment and recovery advocate, maintains that the real tragedy is that there are thousands of families across Canada dealing with the same grief that he faced over the death of a child due to a drug overdose.
Police constable David Steverding works in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and he is a member of the Odd Squad, a group of dedicated police officers who provide drug use prevention education to youth throughout Canada. The constable has worked with hundreds of people living with addiction, and with their families. He said that people often say using drugs is a personal choice and a victimless crime, but that these comments overlook the friends and family members, who, he notes, are often completely helpless, standing by and watching while the drug user spirals downhill.
To the families that have tragically lost sons and daughters to a drug overdose, my message is this: We will make sure their child did not die in vain. We will scrap the dangerous social experiment of safe supply and ensure other kids who struggle with addictions get the treatment they need so they can come home to their families drug-free. The consultants and big pharma that turbocharge opioid marketing will pay for it. We will hold them to account as government policy.
Recovery, treatment and rehabilitation are how we are going to bring home our loved ones. It is how we will turn hurt into hope. It is the common sense of the common people. Hope is possible, and hope is on the way.
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