Health Committee on March 23rd, 2023

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Can I get a very quick answer?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

—and we are able to see that for seniors and others—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Minister.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

—it has been helpful.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Minister, when will there be a legislative review on the Cannabis Act available to parliamentarians and Canadians?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

It will be this fall.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Can you commit to that?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Absolutely. It's a legislative review.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Johns touched on the fact that so many families are having to mortgage their house and having to go into crazy debt just to put their family member into treatment. How much of the SUAP funding is going toward abstinence-based treatment, either percentage-wise or in dollars?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

A lot of the SUAP money, you are quite right, is going to harm reduction and safe supply in innovative projects. Treatment tends to be the responsibility of provinces and territories. That's why that extra money in the CHT will really matter, why the $100 million in British Columbia that was in the last budget—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

So Minister, why don't you—

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

—to go to treatment...or it was $1 billion, I think, that the minister got there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

Ms. Goodridge.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

What criteria are being used to measure the success of B.C.'s decriminalization pilot project?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Six criteria were part of the application.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

What are they?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

They are increased health and social services, continued stakeholder engagement, public education, law enforcement, engagement with indigenous people, and robust evaluation and research as we go forward.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Do you commit to stopping decriminalization, should these outcomes not be achieved?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Absolutely. We have always said that if this isn't working, both on the public health indicators and the public safety indicators, we will be watching those. It was really interesting to see, in the safe supply study that was in the CMAJ this year, the decreased visits to emergency and decreased paramedic visits—all of these things that have been part of that London, Ontario project. It's very exciting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Minister, there have been countless reports of a huge amount of diversion out of London. You keep holding London up as if that's somehow the solution, and everything I've heard.... I'm looking forward to going to London in a couple of weeks, but there is a large amount of diversion. What are you specifically doing to prevent diversion?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

The focus is to keep people alive so that they can get to treatment—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

What, specifically, are you doing to prevent diversion, though?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

We are monitoring that. People are monitoring that. People are making sure that the—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

There's nothing specific being done.