Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my comments in this debate today on our supply day motion to the whole issue of the proliferation of drugs, what it means to organized crime and what it means to our young people.
I attended a conference last weekend in Montreal. The conference title was “Injection Drug Use and Societal Changes”. The primary focus of this convention was on implementing more effective measures to reduce the harm associated with injection drug use, in particular the spread of HIV and AIDS.
A number of speakers recommended the continuation of the needle exchange program. Some recommended allowing for and establishing safe injection houses or sites. Some recommended the medically controlled injection of heroine addicts and some even recommended legalization of drugs.
The conference focused primarily on harm reduction. Therefore, presentations did not provide recommendations or solutions to prevent our youth from becoming addicts in the first place. There were absolutely no statistics based on comparative studies or experiences such as those in Switzerland demonstrating how, if at all, harm reduction ultimately results in fewer drug addicts.
I did not recognize any other members of this House in attendance at this very worthwhile conference which gathered together many experts in the field of harm reduction.
The most important revelation that emerged from this conference was that we need a balanced approach or what the RCMP spokesperson termed “a whole meal deal in dealing with illegal drugs in this country”.
To date, the war on drugs by this government and previous governments has not been successful as evidenced by the growing number of drug addicts living and using drugs on Canadian streets, particularly in downtown east side Vancouver.
Inspector Richard Barszczewski, the RCMP officer in charge of operations of the drug section and the drug awareness program, began his address at the conference by stating “Canada has no war on drugs”. There is no war on drugs because successive governments have failed to introduce a balanced approach to deal with the issue of illicit drugs.
Inspector Barszczewski revealed that the illicit drug trade remains the principal source of revenue for most organized crime groups. The combined annual supply estimates for all drug types has the potential to generate criminal proceeds in excess of $4 billion at the wholesale level and $18 billion at the street level. It is estimated that 15 tonnes of cocaine are smuggled into Canada each year. Additionally, one to two tonnes of heroine are required annually to meet the needs of Canadian heroine users.
One presenter at the conference, Eric Single, a professor with the University of Toronto, estimated that the total cost for illicit drug use for 1992 was $1.4 billion. This cost included but is not limited to police, courts, corrections, customs and excise and health care.
The RCMP revealed that in B.C. alone there were 310 drug overdose deaths in 1996 and again in 1997. Eighty per cent of all property crimes committed by individuals were directly or indirectly related to substance abuse. I am referring to the province of Alberta now. Fifty per cent of those accused of homicide and thirty-eight per cent of homicide victims were intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs or both. Forty per cent of all motor vehicle accident victims were under the influence of drugs.
What are we to do? What would be the ingredients of a balanced approach to the problem we have within Canadian society? There are a number of points I would like to touch on.
First, we should strengthen social policies and programs as a means of prevention.
Second, there should be more education and drug awareness in schools. My province of Alberta has the DARE program, a very effective program administered by the police forces which operates with schoolchildren. I have been privileged to attend some of the graduation exercises of those groups of young people. It is heartening and hopeful to see this occurring and what it means for the future.
We need stricter law enforcement of trafficking charges and penalties.
We need to extend such programs as the Toronto drug court to divert addicts and street level drug traffickers away from the traditional judicial system, allowing for treatment rather than imprisonment.
We need to increase penalties for high level drug trafficking.
We need better organized crime legislation, including proceeds of crime legislation which would allow the authorities in this country to seize the proceeds of drug crimes and turn them over to the state.
We need to increase substantially the RCMP's budget to allow for the hiring of additional officers to be utilized both domestically and abroad.
There is a need to stop the flow or supply of drugs through better interdiction.
Last, effectively implement means to stop the flow of drugs in prisons in Canada. The hon. Justice William Vancise of the court of appeal for Saskatchewan stated during his presentation at the Montreal conference: “It is easier to get drugs in prison than on the streets. They are only more expensive within prison”.
There are numerous flaws in the federal prison service program and for detecting illegal drugs. An 80 page report released by the Quebec provincial ombudsman estimated that between $40 million and $60 million in drugs flow through the prisons of that province annually. There is a commercial enterprise of drug dealing within our prisons.
Justice Vancise revealed an appalling fact that many offenders go into prison without a drug problem and come out as drug addicts. That is unacceptable. The government has failed dismally to introduce the whole meal deal or a balanced approach to dealing with illicit drugs and it is our children and grandchildren who will pay the price.
I will touch on the whole business of the government's attitude toward the use of illegal drugs, particularly hard drugs within our prisons and society. If we want to determine the attitude of the government over the last six years toward the drug problem in Canada, that attitude is best displayed when we examine what is happening within our prisons.
If there is any place that we should be able to reduce if not eliminate the use of drugs, it ought to be within our prisons and yet, as Judge Vancise told us at the Montreal conference, it is as easy to get drugs inside our prisons as it is on the streets. The only difference is that it costs more in our prisons.
The Government of Canada's attitude toward this whole problem is reflected in what is happening within our prisons. It is in complete control of who and what goes into the prison and yet we have this type of unacceptable, reprehensible situation within our prisons where people who are arrested and sent into prison without any type of drug habit are coming out as drug addicts, as the judge said.
We have seen where inmates of our correctional centres have sued the government for various reasons. I predict the day when we will see some inmate suing the government for placing them in an environment that is unsafe because of the uncontrolled trafficking of drugs that occurs within the prison system. It is unacceptable and the government's attitude toward not just the drug situation but crime in general is most vividly reflected in what is happening within our prisons today. It is unacceptable.