Thank you very much. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to ask a few more questions.
I want to make two quick points about diversion.
One—and perhaps it's stating the obvious—is that diversion has been around for as long as prescription drugs have been around. A well-run safe supply that provides drugs to people legally when they are not doing well or are not candidates for opioid substitution therapy has been shown to have extensive benefits. Yes, the more evidence we can gather on that the better.
Second, I want to say that I was lucky to travel to the Downtown East Side at the beginning of last week with my colleague Mr. Johns. We were told at one of the sites that the rhetoric and politicization of conversation around safe supply is literally killing people. We heard, “Please, can you talk about the evidence and evidence-based policies, and not let politics get in the way of saving people's lives?”
I just wanted to put that on the record.
Dr. Tam, you haven't had a chance to speak yet. You may be relieved, but I'd certainly like to give you a chance to give a few perspectives in the couple of minutes I have left.
Look, I know this issue is hugely complex. On average, we have 22 Canadians dying per day now, which means that collectively, as a country, we're not doing enough to address this epidemic. As CPHO of the country, what do you see as the main challenges in addressing this crisis?
I have a couple more questions after that.