Minister, I want to talk about the opioid crisis. As you may be aware, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services reported 162 overdose response calls for the week of March 20, just a few weeks ago. That's a 56% increase over the previous week, where 104 calls were responded to. To date, in 2017, there have been 100 overdose deaths in Vancouver. There were 215 in all of 2016. In the first quarter, we're almost halfway there. If rates of overdose deaths continue at this pace, Vancouver will see nearly 400 deaths in 2017, double the number recorded in 2016. We know fentanyl is spreading across Canada to many communities, and that carfentanil is ever-present.
When I looked in the budget, which the government tabled a couple of weeks ago, on page 193 there is a line item that says, “Emergency Funding to Address Opioid-Related Public Health Emergencies” and it has an allocation of $16 million. This is what was allocated in 2016 to B.C. and Alberta, $10 million to B.C. and $6 million to Alberta, and nothing but zeros thereafter.
Given that the opioid crisis is not under control, and given that we have reason to believe it may even flare up, can you explain if you think it's prudent not to set aside emergency funds to deal with the opioid emergency over the years ahead? Is that a prudent way to budget?