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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 - 312 - May/9/24

Mr. Gord Johns

May/9/24 1:01:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the evidence is in on how the Conservatives' policy is playing out. Alberta is leading the country per capita for death rates due to toxic drugs, and its rate is skyrocketing. In Saskatchewan, it is skyrocketing. Alaska has the same program of no safe supply and no decriminalization. The Conservatives want to point the finger at British Columbia. All they need to do is go to Lethbridge where a safe consumption site was closed. Even if the federal government wants to open one, the Province of Alberta will fine it $10,000 a day to save lives. It will be charged $10,000 a day to open a facility to stop public use and ensure people get connected to services so they stay alive by getting their drugs tested if they are using and being connected to treatment and recovery. However, the Conservatives do not want to do that. In fact, the Premier of Alberta is even going to block research and studying the critical benefits of safer supply. It is out of control. The federal government needs to step in. This is a raging crisis in those provinces. We know how the Conservatives will operate if they are in government and how they will deal with this crisis. They are basically saying that people can only go to treatment and recovery, where often they will wait or they will die. That is the only option.

238 words

Context: House Hansard - 306 - May/1/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

May/1/24 2:55:25 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, in the last year, deaths related to the toxic drug crisis are up 17% in Alberta and 23% in Saskatchewan. Every toxic overdose death is preventable, but in provinces with Conservative premiers that do not have safe supply or decriminalization and do not believe in harm reduction, deaths are soaring. Alberta is on a trajectory to have the most toxic drug deaths per capita in Canada by June. Treatment, recovery and harm reduction go hand in hand. Will the Liberals finally make sure that all Canadians whose lives could be saved have access to these life-saving supports?

100 words

Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23

Mr. Gord Johns

Feb/16/23 1:34:21 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, one thing we know is that Conservatives certainly cannot be trusted to stand up against Doug Ford, Scott Moe and Danielle Smith. They want to destroy Canada's universal health care system, which by the way, was brought in by Tommy Douglas, who is from Saskatchewan. It was the New Democrats that brought forward this motion today instead of a motion to remove the carbon tax for the seventh time. That is what Conservatives use their opposition days for as opposed to trying to protect health care for Canadians. They use their opposition days for motions that they could not enforce even if they were passed in this House. I am from British Columbia, which has a provincial carbon tax.

122 words

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Member of Parliament

Gord Johns