Evidence of meeting #23 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fentanyl.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Lisa Lapointe  Chief Coroner, British Columbia Coroners Service
Bonnie Henry  Deputy Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
David Juurlink  Head, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Sean LeBlanc  Founder and Chairperson, Drug Users Advocacy League

10:35 a.m.

Deputy Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia

Dr. Bonnie Henry

The challenge would be that CIHI doesn't have timely data, and emergency department data is not universal across the country, but it's a start.

10:35 a.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

I know there's a summit in November, but it sounds to me as though the joint task force in British Columbia has come up with some great recommendations. Do we need a national joint task force made up of the federal government and all the provinces and territories to get a handle on this Canadian issue?

10:35 a.m.

Deputy Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia

10:35 a.m.

Chief Coroner, British Columbia Coroners Service

Lisa Lapointe

Yes. First of all, and I don't want to harp on this, but we need to establish criteria, because we don't even know if we're talking about the same thing across the country. Is the data that Ontario is collecting around fatalities the same data that B.C. is collecting and the same as Nova Scotia is collecting?

10:35 a.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

We need standardization.

10:35 a.m.

Chief Coroner, British Columbia Coroners Service

Lisa Lapointe

We need a definition that is standard, and I think it will require federal leadership to say here's the definition for the information we want to collect, and then the provinces and territories will start to collect it.

10:35 a.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Thank you.

10:35 a.m.

Chief Coroner, British Columbia Coroners Service

Lisa Lapointe

Again, I would say that we need to have a definition. What is a drug overdose? Is it a prescribed overdose? Is it an illicit opioid overdose? Is it a cocaine overdose, a stimulant overdose? Those are all different substances and they have different solutions.

10:35 a.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Chair, I think we have our joint task force sitting at the table here. That's the truth.

10:35 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

Unfortunately we have to end our witness session here. I want to thank you all sincerely for being here today. You were most informative. Thank you so much.

We have to move on to some committee business. You're welcome to sit through that. It's quite related to the topic here today. So you're welcome to stay if you wish.

Ms. Sidhu, at the last meeting, tabled a motion and she wants to move it now, from what I understand.

Would you like to read your motion again, Ms. Sidhu?

10:35 a.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I gave notice of my motion last meeting, today I am moving my motion.

This motion reflects what we have heard from witnesses.

10:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

Ms. Sidhu, can I just interrupt you? We have a bit of a commotion here right now. Perhaps we will restart this in about a minute or two.

10:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

I would like to call the meeting back to order, please.

Again, MP Sidhu, I'm sorry for interrupting, but we will get back to your motion again. So please, if you can, continue.

10:40 a.m.

Liberal

Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I gave notice of my motion last meeting, today I'm moving my motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee call upon the Minister of Health to move as quickly as possible to conduct a review of the laws and regulations in place with regard to safe injection sites. This review should have as an end goal to improve the health and safety of Canadians, using a strong evidence-based approach.

10:40 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

MP Sidhu, I'll let Dr. Carrie talk first here.

10:40 a.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Mr. Chair, I find this motion quite unusual because the minister can already do this at her discretion. I would have thought that she's already reviewed the files she is responsible for.

Call me old-fashioned, but the comment here was “safe injection site”. I don't like that term “safe”. I think we've heard that there's no way to safely inject street heroin. Heroin could be laced with whatever off the street. It could be kerosene in your veins. It's not something that's safe.

I would like to propose a friendly amendment, if we are going to go this route.

The minister can do it anyway.

After the second sentence, where it reads, “This review should”, I'd like to add the words, “be reported back to committee and” have an end goal to improve the health and safety of Canadians, using a strong evidence-based approach. If the committee is asking her for this, then it would make sense to me that we get a report from the minister so that we can see what she said.

I'd like to also add the words, “that strengthens consultations with communities who will be affected” after the words “evidence-based approach”, because I think it's really important. If you want to have some success, then you have to have communities that are supportive.

That would be my attempt at improvement.

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

You've put forward an amendment to the motion to change the wording in here.

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Sorry, I have other thing to suggest. Instead of “safe injection sites”, could we say “consumption sites” or something like? I would like to change that wording, because there's nothing safe about it.

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

All right.

We'll go to Mr. Davies.

10:45 a.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

For the latter, sometimes we use the words “supervised consumption sites”. That's also an adjective that we can use.

The other amendment I think that ought to be made is to strike out the words “and safety”. We're the health committee. If we said, “This review should have as an end goal to improve the health of Canadians”, absent the words “and safety”, that would be the point of this. I think we've heard our witnesses testify over and over again that the point of this bill is to make this a health decision and not one that's diverted into issues of criminality or safety. To be honest, I think the concept of health embraces safety.

I would strike the words “and safety”.

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Vice-Chair Conservative Len Webber

Okay. Mr. Davies, we were going to go to Mr. Carrie's amendment first, and vote on it.

Mr. Carrie, do you...?