Hello, everyone, colleagues and witnesses. We are going to start the meeting, even though we have a few members missing. They'll come trickling in here eventually.
I would like to thank you all for joining us here today for this very important meeting. On September 22, 2016, just about a week and a half ago, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health adopted the following motion from MP Don Davies:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake an emergency study of the opioid crisis in Canada.
Today, we will begin that study. We will continue on this study for several meetings. It is my hope that the witnesses, in their testimony, focus on solutions, specifically solutions the federal government can participate in. There is a problem here in Canada, and it is well known. There is one fentanyl overdose death every 14 hours in Canada, and the problem is getting worse. We need to act very urgently.
We have a variety of witnesses lined up who will offer their own unique perspectives and suggestions. We know that there is no silver bullet solution, so this study will be important in providing us with a tool box of solutions that we can consider. I appreciate that we are all concerned about this issue.
With that, let's hear from our witnesses. To start, I'd like to introduce some witnesses from Health Canada.
We have Hilary Geller, who is the assistant deputy minister for the healthy environments and consumer safety branch at Health Canada. She holds a degree in business administration from York in Toronto, and she has been with Health Canada since 2007. Welcome, Hilary.
We have Supriya Sharma, who is a senior medical adviser to Ms. Geller. She is a medical doctor and has a master's in public health from Harvard University. She has been with Health Canada for almost 12 years in various roles.
We also have Rita Notarandrea, CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, and she has been with the CCSA for 10 years. Previously, she spent 21 years with the Royal Ottawa hospital, a large psychiatric institution, including 13 years as a CEO there. Welcome, Rita.
Also from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, we have Matthew Young. Sorry, I don't have any biography for you, Matthew. Maybe you could tell us all about yourself when you're up.
From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we have Todd Shean, assistant commissioner for federal policing special services. This division has responsibility for border integrity and national intelligence coordination, among other things. Mr. Shean has been a police officer for 30 years. While in the rank of chief superintendent, he was responsible for drug and organized crime national operations.
We also have Luc Chicoine. Luc, I just have your business card here, so I'll just read that. Luc is a national drug program coordinator with the RCMP, at the federal coordination centre here in Ottawa.
We also have Caroline Xavier, vice-president of operations at Canada Border Services Agency. Caroline has a master's degree from Dalhousie, and an executive diploma from Harvard. She has been with the CBSA for about six years. As we all know, CBSA has responsibility for securing Canada's land and maritime borders.
We also have Mr. Brent Diverty, vice-president of programs at the Canadian Institute for Health Information. He has a master's degree in economics and has previously worked for Stats Canada. He recently spent two years working with the equivalent agency in Australia.
Welcome, everyone.
I would like to just quickly go around our table here to introduce my colleagues to you. We can start with Darshan.