Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the members who participated in this debate, in particular the member from the Bloc Quebecois and the member from the Conservative Party for their very thoughtful comments. That is what this discussion was about, to talk about this very serious issue and to examine what options and possibilities there are for dealing with the very very serious situation of chronic injection drug users who may be using heroin or cocaine or a combination of drugs.
It was disappointing to hear the response from the government member. To me this debate is about saying we must have a variety of options available. I would certainly agree with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health that methadone must be improved, it must be expanded. There have been calls for that in all the reports I have read and I would certainly agree with that. Indeed the other options she mentioned need to be brought forward and put on the table as real possibilities that can be used.
My concern is that we not rule out what has been shown to be successful in other countries in terms of a heroin maintenance program that can be viable and beneficial in circumstances where individuals have not been able to get successful treatment using other options.
To characterize the heroin maintenance program in Switzerland or anywhere else as something that is not well established or that is very risky, I would encourage the member to look at some of the material that is available from the very credible organizations that have been monitoring the Swiss program. The evidence shows very clearly that we are not talking about risky situations but about a program that actually produced very amazing results.
To the member from the Reform Party, it is very disappointing that this would be characterized as the NDP wanting to give out free heroin to addicts. Morphine is also a controlled substance. We recognize that it has a legitimate use within our medical system. Nobody here is advocating handing out heroin all over the place to whoever wants it.
This motion talks about setting up a very tightly controlled scientific and medically supervised pilot program in which we can enrol people and make contact with people who otherwise are totally marginalized and seem to be outside of our health care system.
To characterize a very complex health issue by throwing it away and saying that it is about free drugs really does not do service to the complexity and the compassion we need to show for people who are really suffering out there. I was very disappointed to hear the remarks from the Reform Party.
I have heard other members from the Reform Party say they have been to Vancouver's downtown east side in my constituency of Vancouver East and they are very horrified at what they have seen on the streets. If that is the case, I would encourage them to look at this seriously and to seek out information from the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Addiction Research Foundation, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, coroners offices, and the list goes on and on.
This motion was brought forward to bring about a debate, to bring about understanding, to encourage the government not to close the door on this matter. It has had a lot of discussion within the health care community and the justice community. This is something that should be taken note of and examined further. We should be working with the medical community to look at the protocols that would be necessary.
From what I have been able to read in articles, even officials from Health Canada believe there is a place to have this kind of program set up. I would encourage the government not to reject this outright as being too controversial and risky but to look at it as an option, as part of a comprehensive harm reduction strategy for dealing with illegal drug use.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for the unanimous consent of the House to make this a votable motion.