I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Continuing the discussion from my colleagues, I think the introduction of this aspect to Bill C-5 just smacks of the Liberal hypocrisy when it comes to the substantive issue. The substantive issue and the elephant in the room, as my colleague Mr. Cooper has addressed, is the opioid crisis.
I just did a quick Google search of the Liberal platform in the last general election, as follows:
The opioid overdose epidemic has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tragically, in 2020, there were 6,214 opioid overdose deaths in Canada.
To save lives, we need a whole-of-society approach to the opioid epidemic that addresses the main causes and supports...who use drugs with the respect and dignity they deserve.
That particular framework is not unlike the framework of the Conservative policy in the last election. Punish the trafficker, not the addicted. To that, I think, we are consistent. Although that language isn't as clear as I just addressed, when the policy of the Liberal Party of Canada says to address the main causes, the addicted rely upon the traffickers. They rely upon the mules who are transporting the drugs across our porous borders.
What kind of horrible message is the federal government sending to Canadians? The number one priority of a federal government is to protect Canadians, not to continue to cause death. In my view, the Liberal government has blood on its hands. Quite frankly, they are talking a good game when it comes to the opioid crisis. There's very little mention of that in the current budget. They're not doing enough. Let's face facts here. How do traffickers conduct their business? They conduct it from the comfort of their own homes. This federal government with Bill C-5 is now giving licence to the traffickers to serve the sentence in the very same place in which they do business.
We've heard from several witnesses at this committee that conditional sentences do not work, notwithstanding the Liberal government narrative that it assists in their rehabilitation. Traffickers need to be punished. Importers, exporters and distributors of drugs need to be punished. They need to be removed from society, not be given a legal licence to ply their trade where they're conducting their trade before their arrest.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.