SoVote

Gord Johns

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
NDP

Courtenay—Alberni
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 66%
Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

May/29/24 11:59:57 p.m.
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Madam Chair, when COVID-19 arrived in this country, we put out a plan to get vaccines to people. We moved and mobilized quickly. We worked through jurisdictional overlap overnight to literally save lives. However, the government is not doing that when it comes to this crisis because of stigma. Is the minister aware that over 20 years of peer-reviewed research shows that safe consumption sites save lives and increase access to treatment? We heard from the deputy commissioner of the RCMP that they want more safe consumption sites, not fewer. Is the minister aware that with the surge of overdose deaths in Lethbridge, Alberta, since the closure of its safe consumption site, they have tripled? It has triple the death rate of British Columbia per capita. In Regina, where we do not have a safe consumption site, it is double that of Saskatoon. Also, HIV rates are impacted when we do not have harm reduction. Saskatchewan has 19 HIV cases per 100,000. To compare that to the second-most, it is Alberta, at 4.2. It is out of control. Will the minister intervene?

187 words

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Mr. Gord Johns

May/23/24 11:07:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government controls who and how supervised consumption services are provided. These services remain unavailable in most locations across the country, especially in more rural and remote locations. This is despite the fact that we heard from the deputy commissioner of the RCMP and the B.C. chiefs of police, who say that we need more safe consumption sites, not fewer. We only need to look at Lethbridge, which closed its safe consumption site and has one of the worst death rates in the country. It is triple the per capita death rate of British Columbia. Regina has a 65% higher death rate per capita than British Columbia and no safe consumption site. When will the government get rid of the red tape and ensure that these services are available and funded nationally?

136 words

Context: House Hansard - 312 - May/9/24

Mr. Gord Johns

May/9/24 1:05:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I can go to Lethbridge, which has a death rate of 137 per 100,000; it closed the safe consumption site. Imagine being a parent of a child in Lethbridge, where there is no safe supply, where it does not support decriminalization and where it closed safe consumption sites, or a parent in Belleville who needs safe consumption sites. Police are saying we need more, not less, safe consumption sites. They save lives. We have to listen to the experts and respond with urgency. The federal government has a role to play when it comes to safe consumption sites.

101 words

Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22

Mr. Gord Johns

May/19/22 10:47:05 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the government keeps touting a safer supply as how it is going to respond to this crisis. Has the government looked into whether bulk buying harm reduction supplies or a safer supply could help reduce costs for supervised consumption sites, which often face funding challenges?

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Context: House Hansard - 62 - May/2/22

Mr. Gord Johns

May/2/22 11:58:59 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, it is hugely disappointing. I appreciate the member's question. In fact, his father's name came up today. I was meeting with an addictions doctor who was really proud of her relationship with the member's father, because he was a champion for harms reduction when the first safe consumption site came to Montreal. I appreciate his work and advocacy on that. There has been talk about the need for real investments, action and a national strategy to tackle this issue. The government has talked about that for six years. My bill comes up for a vote on June 1. I hope this member will do the right thing and support a bill that reflects the government's own expert task force on substance use. If he meets the doctors that I met today, they are going to be asking him to support it. They are going to be asking all members to support it because they know it is going to save lives. We have to be strong. We have to have courage. We have to put saving peoples' lives, and expert, evidence-based decision-making, ahead of politics. We have to. It is our duty.

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Member of Parliament

Gord Johns