Evidence of meeting #131 for Health in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mental.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, As an Individual
I would have to say that I am probably not as familiar with the details as you are. I think it is true that the Quebec health system is crying out for funding, as are all health services across the country.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Dr. Larney.
Mr. Johns, you have two and a half minutes, please.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you.
I'll go back to you, Dr. Wieman. I really appreciate your talking about the comparables with COVID. I mean, the federal government spent less than 1% responding to the toxic drug crisis as compared with COVID. We've now lost more people to the toxic drug crisis than COVID, I believe.
We've seen increased death rates in neighbouring provinces and states. In Alberta they had a record number of deaths last year. Alaska, a neighbouring state, had a 45% increase in deaths and now has a higher death rate than British Columbia. Baltimore has a death rate five times that of British Columbia. All are places without harm reduction, with pretty much no safe supply and no decriminalization.
Maybe you could speak to your earlier comment about the impact that the politicization of this crisis is having. I was in Portugal last year, and they talked about the fact that it was experts who led their response, not politicians. The politicians got out of the way.
Can you talk about the role politicians should be playing and experts and how we can move forward with less politicization?
Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority
Thank you for that question.
I think as a way of responding, I will say that one thing we have observed in British Columbia is that a lot of misinformation is being spread in the public realm about the toxic drug crisis and the interventions directed at trying to save lives. That misinformation is really harmful. It has the potential to have devastating effects, should, for example, supervised consumption sites be closed, as mentioned by Dr. Larney.
We at First Nations Health Authority are in support of a full spectrum of prevention, harm reduction, detox, treatment and recovery, and aftercare. I think what happens with the spread of misinformation for purposes “other” than—you know, for politicization purposes—is that it increases stigma, for example.
When people use the term “drug dens” to describe supervised consumption sites, it's really abhorrent. The body of evidence that lives have been saved at supervised consumption sites is very strong. We've already used the broken leg analogy in this committee. We have centres that provide dialysis, for example, for people with kidney failure so that they don't have to travel long distances. We don't call those dialysis places "drug dens", but because of the stigma against mental illness and people who use substances, we do with them.
I think that has proven not to b every helpful. It has been harmful.
October 8th, 2024 / 12:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Dr. Wieman.
Next is Mr. Vis.
I understand you'll be splitting your time with Ms. Goodridge.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As the local MP for our community of Abbotsford, I'd like to thank you for being here. You mentioned the Cyrus Centre. I live just off George Ferguson. This is around the corner from my house. Thank you for sharing your story.
If you could send one message to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions about some of the failed drug policies we have in Canada, what would that be?
As an Individual
It would be that we need more help. The health care providers need way more help. There just isn't enough. I get that there's an opioid crisis going on and there's a lot of people dying from drugs, but the mental health aspect is a big, leading factor. We can't overlook mental health. Drug use and mental health issues go hand-in-hand. In order for it to stop, we need more funding.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
As you know, the governments of British Columbia and Canada signed a special agreement for decriminalization of hard drugs in British Columbia.
Is it your experience that it became easier for children to get drugs since decriminalization began? How did Brianna generally get her drugs?
As an Individual
I believe it did, actually. The decriminalization of drug use and possession of drugs increased the drugs coming to British Columbia. It lowered the prices. It made them easier to acquire because, hey, with your mental health medication, a lot is experimental and you have to pay out of pocket and it's not always covered, but the drugs can replace that. People were replacing the mental health pills and prescriptions with the hard drugs.
As for Brianna getting her drugs, she got a lot of it through 15- and 16-year-old kids. These 15- and 16-year-old kids actually got really ballsy and showed up at our house one evening. I actually had to escort them out of my neighbourhood.
Conservative
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
I'm just going to ask one more brief question before I turn it over to MP Goodridge.
As a parent in the public school system in Abbotsford as well, what role does the Abbotsford School District have to play in keeping our kids safe?
As an Individual
I feel there should be more police liaisons. I feel they should be checking the children before they even come to school. If found with drugs on them, they should be punished so they realize that it is wrong and they shouldn't have access to these drugs. Nobody should.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Thank you so much for sharing your daughter's story with us and being here.
Justin Trudeau has brought forward the most radical drug policies our country has ever seen, flooded the streets with hard drugs, as you said, and made it so that it was legal for kids and adults to have crack, meth and even your daughter's drug of choice, Molly, or ecstasy.
Do you believe the policy choices that were made by this Prime Minister contributed to your daughter's death?
As an Individual
Yes, I do. To be honest with you, I feel like this experiment—I'm going to call it an "experiment"—was directed towards our children. It was directed towards the people who were struggling with their mental health. The fact that she was able to acquire these drugs on a massive level, and very easily, at her age...yes, I do believe his policy is what really lead to her death. It's not just his policy; it's the fact that there's a lack of funding for mental health.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
If you could tell him he has the ability, with the stroke of a pen, to change these policies today, do you think he should?
As an Individual
Absolutely. To be honest with you, we need to protect our children, and he needs to start realizing this to protect our children and to save the lives of beautiful, innocent people who deserve this. These are our children. For me, being status first nation, it is our job to protect them and it's his job to help us protect them. Why can't he do that? Put the pen to the paper. Let's get more funding for the people and the children and let's stop this. Let's do it all together from the top right down to where we are, as parents. We need more rights.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. Charles.
Next up is Ms. Sidhu.
You have five minutes, please.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to share my time with Dr. Powlowski.
Thank you to all of the witnesses for sharing your knowledgeable testimony. My sincere condolences to Ms. MacDonald and Mr. Charles. Thank you for doing this advocacy.
My first question is for Mr. Kulmala.
Mr. Kulmala, Public Health Ontario found in 2022 that almost one in every 13 opiate-related deceased person in Ontario was a construction worker. Why is that happening? Why is the opiate crisis hitting construction workers so hard?
Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver Island Construction Association
I think the biggest contribution that we see is that we have a similar demographic. Outside the tragedy that happens to children, we know that the main demographic is 19 to 52. We also know that the barriers to entry into construction are rather low, particularly in the skilled trades, but there's a continuum of labourers who are working there. It's an accessible career path for many individuals, but there are a lot of things that happen when it comes to pain management.
It can be a stressful job, but it can also be.... It's that “work hard, play hard” attitude. It's the bravado of men in particular who don't want to seek help, so they self-medicate. They look internally to try to treat their own challenges. Where there are elements of mental health, again, they don't want anybody to know. They have livelihoods to provide for. It's a good industry where there's good income. It provides access to people to get funds.
In some of the statistics, we see that the number of people in the construction sector who die from an overdose or from a toxic drug exposure.... It's happening in a place of residence, so they are with means.
Between mental health, pain management, the “work hard, play hard” attitude and the social element that can come with it, I think contributes to a disproportionate number of people in our sector falling to toxic drugs.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
Last summer, I spoke to LIUNA members from Brampton about innovative programs to raise awareness and reduce stigma around substance use and mental health among construction workers.
You told us you were working with 12,300 organizations from B.C., with a focus on employers and employees, so that peer support is there.
Can you talk about some similar programs? Can you elaborate on that?
Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver Island Construction Association
Most of us trade industry associations are trying to find ways to connect with employees. We do try to do.... Ours is a bit nuanced in that we actually go to the job sites. We'll do this anywhere in the province of British Columbia. We've done it up in the north. We'll go to any job site at any time to do this tailgate talk.
We're also available as a resource to say, “Hey, I need some information.” Again, trade associations or industry associations are active. This is front of mind, so we're all looking for innovative ways.
I think the difference I see with other trade associations is that it tends to be web-based. You have to go online, log in, do this program, and it will help you. There's an 811 number. We have a number of resources that we give out to to people who are in crisis to say, “Here's the subscription of services in your area that you can access.”
We're finding that people are reluctant to go to a website. They're reluctant to actively seek out some supports, but we find that if we go to them, talk to them, give them a card and put it in their hand, they may not say it's about themselves. It will be, “I've got a friend that might want that”, which might in fact be themself. Because it's a very personal matter, we don't get a lot of feedback from people who say, “You saved my life,” but we do get people who say, “Look, I'm glad you gave me that because now I know, and I feel better about it.”
Similarly, our employers are saying, “Look, thank you for that information.” There's nuance in legislation around duty to accommodate. What does that mean? We explain it, and companies are now saying, “We have to take care of our workers.”
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Lance and Sarah, I was a long-time emergency room doctor. I'm sure that in B.C. there are the same kind of laws as in Ontario, whereby the emergency room doctor has the ability—and I would say the obligation—if they think that someone presents a harm to themselves, a harm to others or is unable to look after themselves, to require a person to stay in the hospital for 72 hours for psychiatric evaluation.
How many times did you bring Brianna to the emergency room, and how often did they use that power to keep her, have her observed and at least enter into some sort of treatment?
As an Individual
There were over 20 recorded suicide attempts and self-harm attempts in just a short time. It got to the point that her father and I actually pulled a doctor aside and said, “Don't fall for her narcissistic, manipulative ways. She will talk herself out of here. Please, take our pleas and keep her here. She needs a psychiatric evaluation.”
Of course, they kept telling us the same thing. “We will do our best.” Shortly after, they kicked all of us out of the room and talked to her. They said, “No, she's fine,” and sent her on home.