SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Rachel Blaney

  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • North Island—Powell River
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 64%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $145,542.18

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 196 - May/12/23
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • May/12/23 11:14:18 a.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, hearing a parent say, “Once they are dead, there is no helping them” is terrible. Across Canada, so many people have lost their loved ones to the toxic drug crisis. In the past six years, nearly 25,000 Canadians have died of apparent overdoses. Moms Stop the Harm is fighting back, in the name of the precious children they have lost, using all that pain to take action for every opportunity to save a life. A recent report by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction found that fewer than one in four people with problematic substance use accessed services. Many constituents have talked to me about safe consumption, knowing that safe supply is there to address what is killing their loved ones, the toxic drug supply. This is not a treatment for addiction; it is an intervention to keep people alive. There is nothing I would not do to keep someone alive long enough to consider treatment. To save lives, we must stop the stigma.
178 words
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Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • Apr/21/23 12:13:56 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I table a petition from so many Canadians and recognizing the heartfelt words of so many of my constituents about addressing drug toxicity and the impact it is having on the many precious lives that are being lost. We know Canada's current drug policies have proven to be ineffective in the prevention of substance use and exacerbate substance use, harms and risks. We also know, from much research, that the decriminalization of personal possessions is associated with significantly reducing drug toxicity deaths in the countries that have adopted progressive drug policy reforms. So many precious souls have died. Once they are gone, they never have that opportunity, so the petitioners are asking the government to implement a health-based national strategy to provide access to a regular safe supply of drugs, and expand trauma-informed treatment, recovery and harm-reduction services and public education and awareness campaigns throughout Canada.
152 words
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