We've all seen the devastating impacts that the opioid crisis has had on our communities, on our downtowns and certainly after COVID. We've seen how the victims of these crimes have been impacted, as well as our municipalities that are struggling with the effects of this. We see our rates of homelessness. We see mental health and addictions at all-time highs. We continue to see opioid-related deaths.
I can tell you that in my community of Sudbury, we had the highest per capita numbers of opioid-related deaths. Northern Ontario has been really impacted by this. We have a lack of infrastructure resources that you would see in other regions.
In seeing those devastating impacts, knowing how these organizations are still stepping in every day and our first responders meeting the call, I felt this was a really important time, as well as a point, in terms of creating this opportunity for these first responders. It's important for criminals to be held accountable for the harm created by their crimes and the impact on victims and communities.