Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I won't take too much time. I am a British Columbian, and it's nice to see you again. It's been a few years.
The Leader of the Opposition mentioned the Abbotsford Soccer Association in question period today. My son was playing on the weekend, and I asked Coach Gill, the youth coordinator for the first kicks program, about what was taking place and the letter that was featured widely in our local regional media.
Decriminalization in British Columbia has led to widespread chaos. There were kids who saw a woman get raped at our soccer field last year, and she was on drugs when it happened. The stuff is devastating. My office is adjacent to Haven in the Hollow, which was a homeless shelter that became a safe injection site. During the pandemic, it became a place where people could openly do any drugs they wanted and consume alcohol. It brought chaos to the neighbourhood where my office is. The Legion came to me a few weeks ago. It's less than a block away from the site, and every day they have to ask people not to consume meth, crack and other hard drugs on site.
The decriminalization order put forward by the government was very clear that it wouldn't apply to those types of places, but since it has been unleashed, the consequences have been grave for the residents of the Fraser Valley. I'll note as well, in the context of decriminalization, that in the health region where I reside, the Fraser Health region, we had, I believe, last year—and don't quote me on this—one of the highest per capita death tolls after Northern Health in British Columbia. At the same time as we had a record number of deaths proportionate to the rest of the population in British Columbia—the second- or third-highest number—there was no increase in funding to help people get clean and help people access a detox bed and a site that would give them the treatment they needed.
Decriminalization is killing a lot of British Columbians, and I would encourage everyone to vote for this motion. I think it's a good one.
Thank you for your time.