Chair, I can address that question.
It's not lost on me that your example was in Toronto, where there is actually no decriminalization. I'm happy to comment on our decriminalization experience here in British Columbia as it relates to public consumption. This is because I couldn't agree more with Deputy Commissioner McDonald that the matter of public consumption on our streets is something that we were very concerned about before the application went in for the section 56 exemption, and we continue to be concerned about it to this day.
In fact, all of the concerns that we had have been realized. We've had some really concerning examples of public consumption, despite the fact that, in my experience, the vast majority of people who use drugs have no interest in doing so in front of children, for example, or in manners that I think are problematic.
I have to give our provincial government credit for doing everything it could to come up with a public consumption act. Unfortunately, that act has been prevented from coming into force as a result of an interlocutory injunction that was issued by the chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court.
There have been efforts to address that. It would have been nice to have that matter addressed prior to the submission of the request for the section 56 exemption. It is an ongoing challenge here in British Columbia, for sure.