Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to both Minister Ambrose and Minister Blaney and the officials for appearing in committee today.
I've heard both ministers talk about the need for community consultation on this bill. I think we're all hopeful that the measures that will be in this bill will provide communities with the opportunity to provide their own views on injection sites that seek to open up in their area.
It's important to note that, prior to this bill coming to committee, we as parliamentarians actually spent more than 18 hours in the House of Commons, during the first substantive legislative phase of this bill. I think we're all happy to see it finally coming to committee and going through this process.
I agree with both of you that we, as legislators, need to make sure communities are involved, and I think this is important to the success of any initiative as well.
Minister Ambrose, you mentioned in your opening remarks the importance of hearing from local authorities and the public about applications for proposed supervised consumption sites. Could you elaborate on how Bill C-2, this legislation that is before us, would allow consultation with a range of stakeholders, because we're not just talking about a level of government, one community group, or a single police force, but a range of stakeholders? Could you provide your opinion on how this is important in the application for a supervised injection site?