Thank you very much.
First of all, my heart breaks for families who are struggling with substance use and problematic substance use, including opioid use. I have to say that the stigma of dealing with substance use and problematic substance use is partly what keeps people away from effective treatment and harm reduction services.
I'll just tell you that on a personal note this is a multi-generational challenge in my family. It is partly why I'm so passionate about this. I've personally seen too many lives that have been destroyed and damaged as the result of problematic substance use. I think that if we look in our souls, we can all say that we know someone we love who struggles with problematic substance use, or maybe we have ourselves.
That's why I think these honest, open conversations are so important, because the more we can talk about it, the more they can talk about it and the more people can feel safe in reaching out. That's the point, I think, behind the conversation around safe supply, harm reduction and decriminalization. It really isn't about encouraging drug use, which some Conservative opponents might say and have said, in fact, in the harmful policy under the Harper legacy for a decade. Rather, it's about meeting people where they're at and offering supports and services in a compassionate way that reduces their risk of dying.
I used to have a colleague who said that no one can get treatment if they're dead. We have to save lives so that people have an opportunity to get better, and that's exactly the focus of this Liberal government. We will work with communities on tools that they feel are appropriate, including safe supply, including harm reduction, including safe consumption sites and including making sure that community groups on the ground that are doing that hard work with families every day have what they need to keep doing that work.
Finally, let me just say that if you have not heard of the group Moms Stop the Harm, please go and visit that website. Listen to some of those moms. They will tell you heartbreaking stories of their young people who have died of opioid overdose, and they are begging governments to be non-partisan in this approach and to work together to get the job done to save lives.