Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would reiterate that the current bill as proposed does invite and permit the consideration of local conditions and of support or opposition. The opportunity for community consultation is currently in the act. I think it's important to remember that.
The reason I'm opposed to this provision is that it sets out a minimum barrier of at least 45 days before an exemption could be granted. I think everybody on this committee knows that in my province of British Columbia there aren't just two supervised injection sites open right now: there are about six. Four sites opened up spontaneously, regardless of the law, to save lives. These were called pop-up overdose prevention sites. They popped up not for ideological reasons but because people were dying.
I was going to pick up what Dr. Eyolfson said. In British Columbia we had 1,000 deaths last year—914 officially, but probably closer to 1,000, if you count the deaths that probably eluded the coroner's diagnosis. That means that in British Columbia we have about 20 people dying per week, which would mean that in five weeks, 100 people would die. The Vancouver Police Department tracks the number of overdose deaths in Vancouver itself, and in the second week of January they found 15 overdose deaths per week. In 45 days, that means 75 people dying.
In Alberta, probably 400 people died last year. That's eight per week. That's 40 deaths.
The difference is that every time we erect a barrier or delay in opening sites, we are handcuffing our ability to take measures when a public health emergency demands immediate action. Although in the normal course a city or municipality may apply for a supervised injection site and could wait, this provision, if it were adopted, would restrict the ability of the minister to grant an exemption on an emergency basis. That's what we need.
That's what has happened in British Columbia. Those four extra sites operating right now are saving lives now. I visited all four of them about three weeks ago. The last thing in the world we need to do is erect a legislative barrier that says they couldn't operate for 45 days.
Given that the spirit behind it is to make sure there's adequate consultation, a fact that's in the act, we can have that consultation as Ms. Harder wants. We can ensure that local conditions are taken into account and we can leave open the discretion of the minister to act quickly if need be.