House of Commons Hansard #64 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was problem.
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to four petitions.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts relating to chapter 11 of the October 2000 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, “Human Resources Development Canada: Grants and Contributions”, and the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts relating to chapter 14 of the October 2000 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, “Canadian International Development Agency: Managing Contracts and Contribution Agreements”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to these two reports.
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report on Bill C-25, an act to amend the Farm Credit Corporation Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts, without amendment.
I would like to thank the members of our committee for their attention and due diligence in considering this legislation and bringing it back to parliament.
Raymond Lavigne Liberal Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament.
With leave of the House, I intend to move for concurrence in this report later this day.
Allan Rock Liberalfor Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
moved that Bill S-24, an act to implement an agreement between the Mohawks of Kanesatake and Her Majesty in right of Canada respecting governance of certain lands by the Mohawks of Kanesatake and to amend an act in consequence, be read the first time.
(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
Raymond Lavigne Liberal Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, with leave of the House, I move that the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.
(Motion agreed to)
Murray Calder Liberal Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present another petition to the House calling for the release of historic census records to the public. The petition is signed by more than 5,500 Canadians. Combined with the signatures of the previous petitions that I have presented on this subject in this session of parliament, the total number is now over 9,000.
The petition points out that an estimated 7.5 million Canadians are engaged in the pursuit of their family history and that census records are a valuable tool for such research. The records have been used in historical research, for tracing genetic diseases and in settling wills and estates.
The petitioners are calling upon parliament to take whatever steps are necessary to retroactively amend confidentiality clauses of the Statistics Act since 1906 to allow the release to the public, after a reasonable period of time, the post 1901 census records.
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
moved:
That a special committee of the House be appointed to consider the factors underlying or relating to the non-medical use of drugs in Canada and make recommendations with respect to the ways or means by which the government can act, alone or in its relations with governments at other levels, in the reduction of the dimensions of the problem involved in such use;
That the membership of the committee be established by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs;
That the Standing Committee report the membership of the special committee to the House within five sitting days after the adoption of this motion;
That substitutions may be made from time to time, if required, in the manner provided for in Standing Order 114(2);
That the committee shall have all of the powers granted to Standing Committees in Standing Order 108; and
That the committee shall present its final report no later that June 1, 2002.
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to speak today to the motion and to get it to the floor of the House of Commons. It has been about eight years, since 1993, that I have been very close to this issue and have wanted to get it to the House.
When I look back at the record of the House of Commons I find there actually has not been a debate in the House on drugs for decades. That concerns me, particularly because of the advance stage of concern from parents and virtually everyone in the country about drugs.
The reason we are asking for a special committee is that it is time the House of Commons, on a non-partisan basis, organized itself to go across the country to the small towns, villages and cities and to hold hearings here in the House of Commons to get people together and assess how difficult the situation is today.
I can assure members that I will let them know just how difficult it is from my perspective. As I say, I have been involved with this for some time.
Some have said that there is a Senate committee looking at this issue, but it is actually only looking at the issue of cannabis. What I am talking about here is assessing the non-medical use of drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD, the kinds of drugs that are addicting our young people.
The important thing I want to emphasize is this committee and its make-up. The committee should be made up of members of all parties of the House. They should be members who want to consistently be involved in the committee on a longer term basis with other members who have an avid interest in the issue. They should be individuals who are somewhat compatible, regardless of philosophical beliefs or politics. They should be compatible on the issues and the understanding of drugs themselves.
I do not doubt that this will take a lot of time and work but we have to deal with the issue, and I will show the House why.
I want to relate how drug use is growing in our country. The results were astonishing in a particular study I was recently looking at, the Ontario student drug use survey that has been done biannually since 1977. It indicated that between 1997 and 1999 the use of some drugs almost tripled. The percentage of students who said they could not stop using drugs soared from 2.9% to 6.5%. That was in Ontario schools.
With cannabis the percentage peaked at 31.7% in 1979 and then fell for the next six surveys to 11% in 1991. Since then usage has soared, reaching 24.9% in 1997. We can see that is increasing.
Cocaine use has been tracked since 1977 and crack cocaine has been tracked since 1987. While cocaine peaked in 1979 at 5.1% and then fell, only to rise again, crack cocaine usage has increased steadily. Cocaine usage rose sharply in 1999 to 3.7% in Ontario schools. That is concerning.
I can tell the House that 36% of students in 1999 said that someone had tried to sell them drugs in the last year and 32% said they observed someone selling drugs. That is in our schools.
I was in a school not too long ago where three students in one behavioural class admitted to being heroin users. That is concerning. It is such an addictive drug that these young people will end up stealing, robbing, prostituting or doing whatever they can to get the drug. Those are our children. That is why the motion is important.
I have here Canada's drug strategy. It was produced by the current government. I looked at the particular strategy and I compared it with the strategy done by the previous Progressive Conservative government. I think both governments, in all fairness, tried their very best to assess the drug situation at the time and perhaps had the bureaucracy write the strategy.
I actually took this strategy to the streets, to people working with drug addicts and to drug addicts themselves. I asked them about the strategy. They had no idea what I was talking about and quite frankly told me that it did not affect their daily lives.
When we compare the strategies it is really interesting. I ask all colleagues who are interested in this subject to compare the strategy produced in 1987 by the Progressive Conservative government with the strategy produced by the Liberal government. I am not trying in any way to discredit either government. I am just relating that perhaps the bureaucracy has this idea about drug strategy.
In 1987 the goal or the overall objective of the drug strategy of the government of the day was to reduce harm to individuals. In 1998 this strategy by a different government but by the same bureaucracy said that the long term goal of Canada's drug strategy was to reduce the harm associated with alcohol and drugs.
Between 1987 and 1998 a whole bunch of things happened regarding drug use. It became worse and there were more manufactured drugs in the country, but virtually the same document has been produced by the same bureaucracy but by different governments. I do not think this is getting to the bottom of the issue.
Let me talk about the comprehensive framework. In 1987 the bureaucracy of the day said this was a multifaceted response to a complex issue. It said that the most important things were education and prevention. In 1998 the government and its bureaucracy said that it was a comprehensive framework and that the most important things were prevention and education.
In 1987 they said we needed enforcement and control. In 1998 they said we needed legislation, enforcement and control. In 1987 they said we needed treatment and rehabilitation. In 1998 they said we needed treatment and rehabilitation, and on it goes.
It is an overlay, an absolute overlay from 1987 to 1998. Yet the problem is probably three to four times worse. What I am getting at is that I do not see improvement. We have to put together a committee in the House and we to get on the streets where the problem is. We have to come back here on a non-partisan basis and say that we have to take the following action. It is not to write a drug strategy like the one that has been the same for 10 years with a poor outcome.
I have been many places in my day. One of the worst times in my life since I have been a member of parliament is when I was on the streets watching a young 13 or 14 year old shooting heroin between her toes because there was no other place on her arms or elsewhere to put the needle. That kid is likely dead today. That child was somebody's child. We forgot her.
There are many other children like her out there. Today we are arresting prostitutes one after another, treating them like criminals rather than victims of a very harsh drug trade where the profiteers at the top are making a lot at the expense of the young kids at the bottom.
One night I was on shift with a police force when we arrested four prostitutes. The oldest was 16. They were arrested, booked and let back out on the streets. Before I finished my shift one of them was back out on the street, on the corner. She stayed there because there was no consequence to just being arrested. These kids need a shot of heroin. This cannot continue.
I have a lot of police reports. The police give me a lot of reports on things that go on. I want to give a few examples of efforts to smuggle drugs into Canada. These are from intelligence bulletins and, no, I will not tell anybody where I got them. Ecstasy was seized from a female body packer at Vancouver international airport. Inspectors seized 10,212 ecstasy tablets from a young woman arriving from Amsterdam. That was on Friday, December 3, 1999.
On November 30, 1999, 23,057 tablets of ecstasy were hidden in socks at Vancouver international airport. On November 4, 1999, 104,000 tablets of ecstasy were seized at Vancouver international airport from two Israeli nationals arriving on KLM flight 681 from Amsterdam. On August 18, 1999, 33 kilos of cocaine were seized on the Pacific coast highway commercial corridor from people from California.
I have pages and books of this stuff. Surely everybody listening gets the point. It is out of control. I am not talking about catching everybody involved in drugs, locking them up, throwing away the key and starting a war on drugs. To some extent the Americans are on the wrong track by doing this.
I am talking about assessing the state of drug use in the nation, the state of our children in schools, the state of prostitution on the streets, and the state of parents from whom I receive calls practically on a daily basis. They ask if I can help them get their child out of a crack house or out of a province and into another province, into a facility for drug rehabilitation and detox.
We do not even have enough detox facilities to look after a small percentage of the addicts in our country. For goodness' sake, there are almost 8,000 heroin addicts in Vancouver alone who shoot up every day at $20 a cap. Every one of them has to earn the money to get heroin five to eight times a day. They are stealing and robbing from people. They are prostituting themselves. That is only one city.
There have been 147 deaths from overdoses this year in Vancouver alone. These were someone's children or someone's parents. If they were raped and murdered there would be a sex offender registry in two seconds. If they were shot with a gun or driven over by a drunk driver this place would be erupting with new legislation.
We are pleading for all parties to look at the issue on a non-partisan basis now and not over the next five years. Let us give it a year but study it thoroughly and come back to the House to take some concrete action.
The reality is that the drug strategies appear to be a failure. There is no point coming here and ragging on any government about drug strategies. The people who really need help are not interested in reading a drug strategy that does not go to the streets.
I have been involved in a needle exchange that gives out needles to some addicts, not all of them. It gave out 1.5 million needles last year to drug addicts in one facility. I have seen the needle exchange in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Who would have ever thought this could happen in a small place such as Sydney?
Right now my community of Abbotsford is debating the issue of whether there should be a needle exchange. We can reserve opinion on the effectiveness of a needle exchange and safe shoot up sites. They were talking about that in Vancouver yesterday. We do not have to get into whether it is right or wrong right now, but we have to get into how Sydney, Nova Scotia, and small towns in the country are into these exchanges. Why is it? How big will it get?
My colleague tells me there are about 4,000 to 5,000 people in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Recent information highlighting a growing drug problem among Stellarton's youth is prompting the town's police commission to seek government funding to help pay for a new drug enforcement officer. The town's drug problems came to the fore following a recent news report highlighting an incident involving an 11 year old Stellarton girl who was discovered by police to be carrying 140 tablets of a street drug.
This is happening with an 11 year old kid, and we sit in the House debating some legislation that the average person on the street does not give two hoots about. It is not just Stellarton. It is all over the country and we are closing our eyes to it.
There are a lot of things this committee has to look at. I believe we will get, if not unanimous consent, majority consent to establish this committee. I am begging the House to have the committee, on a non-partisan basis, get down to looking at the issue on the streets. We should forget the bureaucrats who sit in high buildings. Let us get down on the streets and figure out how to fix this thing.
I have a litany of problems here with regard to the judicial system. I have here case upon case of individuals trafficking in $300,000 to $400,000 worth of drugs who get caught and get suspended sentences or conditional sentences. There are individuals with better than 60 convictions. They go into our courts and they come out of our courts. They sell drugs, they buy drugs, they trade drugs, they make money and they go into our courts and come out of our courts. Meanwhile our children become addicted and these individuals get rich. The justice system just drags along real slowly and the police say “What do you want us to do?”
I have stood by with police and talked to people who are in this country illegally. One was smoking a marijuana joint while he was talking to us because he knew nothing would happen to him. I am not here to debate whether marijuana is a good thing or a bad thing. I am here to try to establish some action. I sincerely hope that if we establish the committee we will have people on the committee who truly care about the issue and will truly do something.
Finally, I want to thank all of those people listening and watching who have some concern for this matter. I hope that they too will write to members of parliament in the House of Commons and say that we have to take some action in this country. I say please, on behalf of our children, on behalf of the tens of thousands who are addicted in this country, let us take some action and do something positive for a change.
Réal Ménard Bloc Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC
Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform my colleague that, as a party, we are going to support this motion.
We share his feeling that it is high time parliamentarians addressed the issue of drug use and its connection with other problems.
The question I wish to ask my colleague is this: Has he heard of the harm reduction model? This is an intervention framework in place in Vancouver and in Quebec, which provides needle exchange sites.
This approach is based on the principle that, before people can get clean, they need a support process and that this must involve providing the safest possible conditions for drug use. That is why there are needle exchanges. Earlier, our colleague gave some figures that I took note of: 1.5 million needles in his region. The same situation exists in Montreal.
In preparation for our future endeavours, I wish to indicate immediately to him my interest in a committee of this type, an interest I know is shared by the hon. member for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie.
Does the hon. member believe that the first stage needs to be based on the premise of harm reduction? Is he familiar with this?
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am very familiar with the concept of harm reduction. I do not want to limit the committee by suggesting that it would proceed on the basis of a harm reduction model.
I have a lot of questions about the harm reduction model. In talking to hundreds of people about it, I have learned that there are different understandings of what harm reduction is. That is why we have to look at it. What does harm reduction mean?
To some, harm reduction means not doing too much on the enforcement side. It means that if people get involved in drugs we reduce the harm by getting them into methadone treatments and safe shooting up sites. There are many people who disagree with safe shooting up sites, for instance, which Vancouver is considering. When we talk about harm reduction, I do not think there is a person here or anywhere else who can be consistent in saying exactly what it means and how far we should go. To me harm reduction is something whereby we ask how we can best deal with an addict.
I am equally concerned about keeping people from becoming addicted. I am equally concerned about individuals who are trafficking in this and making profits on it. It is a complex issue, but I will reserve opinions as to whether or not harm reduction is, first, defined and, second, acceptable, until I get into this personally and see what this committee will do with itself.
Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commence by congratulating the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford. This is an issue that he has long pursued and I know that his participation in the justice committee reiterated his interest and his passion for seeking solutions in this area.
The hon. member spoke of a place very near and dear to my heart, Stellarton, Nova Scotia. I know that the chief of police there, Ambrose Heighton, and others, including principal Jeff Green and community members, have tried to aggressively attack this issue of possession of very serious drugs in our community.
The young girl the hon. member mentioned in his remarks was in possession of tablets of dilaudid, I think, which is a highly addictive morphine-like drug that has become very prevalent and is very available in communities in Pictou county and the nearby areas.
My main concern, like his, is how we address this in a broad fashion. It will take the police, the education system and the health professionals to address it. However, perhaps I am looking for a more specific direction from him for this committee and for any parameters he might suggest that we put in place. He mentioned having a time limit of a year to report. Would this include calling witnesses? Would it include bringing forward some of these studies he has already alluded to as the basis for this committee?
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well I have a great deal of respect for him. I think he is one of the individuals the House needs on that committee.
In regard to the terms and conditions of the committee, a budget would have to be established because there would have to be a great deal of travel. I am not a big one to be travelling, but the committee has to travel, and not only to the big cities. We have to go to Stellarton and find out what the problem is, how it is occurring and how to stop it. We must have the right people on the committee, not too many but the right ones who are all of the same frame of mind, and that is, how do we fix this? We have to set out objectives. We must have a commitment from the House that when the committee has its report it comes in here at least for debate. The committee has to set other parameters as well, which I do not think I have time to discuss here. I am willing to discuss all of them.
David Kilgour LiberalSecretary of State (Latin America and Africa)
Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is extremely interested in this subject. It is very important for all Canadians, or should be.
How many residents of Vancouver are dying every day or every week? Is the hon. member able to tell us anything about that? Does he have some country or some place in mind where there is an effective strategy against drug abuse which he would like to mention beyond what he has already said in his comments?
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, drug overdoses in Vancouver alone average 147 yearly. Together in Toronto and Vancouver last year there were over 400 deaths from drug overdose. This is acute; that is just two cities.
I would venture a guess that there are well over a thousand overdoses a year in this country. Then again, that is what the committee has to determine. How serious is this thing? Often in little towns like mine there is a death from overdose but it is not recorded that way. Some are and some are not. Perhaps somebody on drugs was driving a car and killed himself. It is very loosely defined.
In regard to other countries, I have read a lot about the experiment in Holland. Some say it failed. Some say it was the only way to deal with it. Some say it created a greater drug trade in Europe. Other countries promote the drug trade. In some of the southern countries, one of the main national incomes is from drug exportation. In British Columbia, B.C. bud is traded in large quantities to the south in return for money or cocaine coming north.
I honestly have not read about a completely satisfactory solution in any country. At least this committee should be able to come back here and say whether the world has a problem or that several countries seem to be addressing it better and we should be focusing in that direction. However right now this country is all over the map on the issue. Provinces and even cities are tackling it in different ways. We have to do something better.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, I want the hon. member to know that I did a research paper with regard to marijuana and exactly what it does to young people and people of all ages. The research I did was out of Berkeley university. I want the hon. member to know that the first marijuana cigarette that anyone smokes goes into their brain cells, unlike an ordinary cigarette, and remains there for nine days. We are all aware that young people who get into the alleyways and start smoking up do it more often than every nine days.
Just so the members know, about three or four years ago on Christmas Eve a young man came to my door to tell me that his mother and father wanted him to thank me for getting him out of the alleyway and off cocaine.
I have been told that the hon. member and his party are in favour of decriminalizing marijuana and making it available. I want to know if that is true. Is that part of what this committee is looking at? Is that part of what is being put on the table?
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, that is categorically not true.
The member should start looking at this not on a partisan basis but in a way that would help our young people. I too was a resident of Saint John, New Brunswick. I know the city fairly well. They have drug problems there too. This problem has to be curtailed all over the country.
The answer to that question is that it is categorically not true. There is no hidden agenda here. The agenda is to try to protect our children from drugs.
John Maloney LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the opportunity to address this issue this morning. I acknowledge the conviction and passion of the member for Langley—Abbotsford in proposing this motion and speaking on it.
I am speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health this morning. I would like to thank the hon. member opposite for bringing forward this motion. I certainly applaud his concern over the issue of non-medical drug use in Canada because it is a subject that merits the attention of all members of parliament and all parties.
Reducing the magnitude of the drug use problem is a priority for the government, throughout Canada, especially in our urban centres and in some of our aboriginal communities.
Also, I want to echo the comments of the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford.
Drug use is one of the most complex and vexing challenges before us today. It is not simply a question of controlling the supply of illicit drug products but of curbing demand and dealing with the health impacts, the crime and the myriad of other consequences of non-medical drug use.
It is such a complex problem that it demands a comprehensive range of solutions. It requires the co-operation of numerous departments and agencies within the Government of Canada as well as meaningful partnerships among and between governments, institutions, voluntary organizations, community groups and advocacy organizations. That is the essence of Canada's drug strategy.
It is a comprehensive approach aimed at reducing harm associated with alcohol and other drugs, harm caused to the person who lives in the grip of these addictive substances and harm to their families and to their communities.
The strategy reflects a balanced approach to reducing both the supply and the demand for drugs. It is a measured approach that focuses on our capacity to prevent drug use, to enhance treatment and rehabilitation and to support an expanded range of enforcement and control responses.
Over time we have integrated other elements into the strategy which address the global nature of the drug problem, for example, an increase in our support for research and evaluation here at home. I want to underline that the reason for the ongoing acceptance and success of this strategy is its emphasis on partnership.
Canada's drug strategy involves a variety of partners, including 14 federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, addiction agencies, non-government organizations, professional associations, law enforcement agencies, the private sector and community groups.
As was stated in the most recent red book and in the Speech from the Throne, our role and commitment to addressing substance abuse issues remains a priority.
In the area of injection drug use, Health Canada co-chairs with British Columbia a federal-provincial-territorial committee comprised of representatives from health, justice, the aboriginal community as well as other stakeholders. The committee's task is to recommend what kind of co-ordinated action governments and their partners could take to reduce the harm associated with injection drug use in Canada. The committee has already engaged in extensive consultations on safe injection sites but any concrete proposals to curb injection drugs can only proceed with the full engagement of the communities concerned.
Health Canada is also a partner in the innovative Vancouver agreement. The five year agreement takes the position that the drug problems of the downtown east side demand a comprehensive range of solutions. These include everything from treatment and health promotion to increased housing, public safety and economic revitalization.
Last summer I had the opportunity to visit east Vancouver with the subcommittee on organized crime. I witnessed the very sad commentary on our society. I observed individuals in the shadows shooting up. I observed an individual who died almost before our very eyes on the street from a drug overdose. I saw the flop houses where these people live almost like creatures. This had a tremendous impact on those of us who walked through this area with a member of the Vancouver drug squad.
I saw youth who had so much potential. I could see in their eyes that they were just wasting away. I saw other youth who were down there for a joyride so to speak, just for a walk on the wild side. I told them to get out of the area before they were caught. I found it incomprehensible.
We came across a young woman who obviously knew the police officer as they were on very good terms. Instead of being penal officers they are guardians who monitor these individuals. This young woman advised the officer that there was an individual preying on women in the area and had raped several of them that week. She had been raped a couple of days earlier. She was also HIV positive.
We could see the downward cycle of all the people who were involved in that area. Our committee was looking at how drugs came into the area, which was mainly by way of airports and seaports. We saw the end result of those activities. It was an incredible experience. It would have had an impact on any member of the House.
It is worth noting that the four pillars on which the Vancouver agreement is founded, prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction, are consistent with the goals of Canada's drug strategy.
Like other Canadians, some first nations and Inuit struggle with addiction to various substances. Health Canada is committed to working in partnership with the aboriginal communities to address alcohol and other drug abuse problems. This past winter we saw young children sniffing gasoline and being taken from their community in order to be rehabilitated and to be put on the right track. We see that all over Canada.
One way we are tackling the problem together is through the national native alcohol and drug abuse program. We aim to confront the cultural, social and personal aspects of addiction. In addition to a network of 53 treatment centres, the program encompasses more than 500 community based initiatives geared toward providing first nations and Inuit people with culturally relevant education and prevention programs, crisis counselling, treatment referrals and follow up.
Within that context, solvent abuse among aboriginal youth is of particular concern. That is why we have been working with aboriginal communities to establish a network of 10 residential sites to treat young people with solvent addictions in a culturally appropriate environment.
The youth solvent abuse program also includes an outreach component. Treatment centre staff work with communities to offer education on abusive solvents, such as gasoline and aerosol sprays, and to provide follow up care for youth who have completed treatment. The follow up care is almost as important as the treatment itself so that they do not fall back into the lifestyle that they had been experiencing.
Clearly, as long as drugs remain a problem for Canadians, we need to understand a great deal more about why people become addicted to drugs and to help them conquer their addictions.
The Canadian Institutes for Health Research currently funds more than 300 researchers in the realm of drug research and pharmaceutical science for a total of some $20 million. The investment supports a vast range of work, including investigations on the puzzle of drug addiction. As with all Canadian health research initiatives, this work is collaborative involving teams of researchers across a range of disciplines.
I would like to point out that our efforts to reduce drug abuse are carried out in an international context. The United Nations international drug control program and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission have both urged governments to develop national frameworks to address the global drug problem.
The supply and trafficking of illicit drugs, which feed our domestic demand, are very much international problems that demand co-ordinated action. In addition to fulfilling our international commitments, we also work closely with other nations to see if we can apply their lessons learned to our own situation.
The member for Langley—Abbotsford mentioned the drug trade between British Columbia and the United States. The trade goes both ways across the border and it has to be stopped. There is a co-ordinated border approach by police and revenue and customs. They are working together as teams to fight the problem on both sides of the border.
The Minister of Health has taken the lead on Canada's drug strategy which is only fitting since drug use is, first and foremost, an issue of human health. However it is also many other things, with economic, social, legal, judicial and public security dimensions included. That is why he is grateful for the contributions of the many other partners who make the strategy work.
Canada Customs and Revenue Agency aims to stop the flow of illegal drugs across the border. All of us have witnessed the drug dogs that are extremely competent at finding illicit contraband. The solicitor general and the RCMP, who work so hard to get drugs off the streets, and the provinces and territories are all vital partners in all aspects of the strategy.
There are many others too numerous to list, such as individuals, community groups, volunteers, government officials, researchers and countless others, who are doing their part to reduce the dangers of drug use in Canada.
In that context and on behalf of the Minister of Health I welcome the concerns of the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford. As a government we have committed to continue the battle against illegal drug use. Our efforts can only benefit renewed interest by a committee of the House.
Should hon. members vote to establish such a committee, I give my assurance that we will look forward to the committee's recommendations on new ways for the Government of Canada to help further reduce the dimensions of Canada's drug problem. At this point I move:
That the motion be amended by deleting the words “June 1” and substituting the following therefor:
“November 1”.
It would give more time to implement the motion.
Randy White Canadian Alliance Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am happy that the government has agreed to go along with the motion and to establish the committee.
I caution the government on some comments that were just made. It is probably necessary in the debate to say how much the government is doing and how well it is doing on this issue. However I can sincerely say that no one thinks we are doing enough. The country has a serious drug problem in schools, homes, the workplace and recreation areas.
We might say that the government is working on comprehensive programs. It has written documents and has a strategy, but not many people think it is working because it is not working. That is why the parliamentary committee is so necessary.
I thank the member opposite for his co-operation on the motion. Does the member have any statistical data that would tell us just how many people in Canada have died in the last two to three years from drug overdoses?
I am sure he knows the situation is escalating and that many individuals are in anguish today because someone in their family may be on drugs. Does he believe the problem is escalating? Have any of these programs really done their job to date?
John Maloney Liberal Erie—Lincoln, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am not personally aware of the actual number of people who may have succumbed to overdoses of drugs over the last two or three years. I can simply say that one is too many. I also agree that we have a problem. That is why we are trying to address the problem with a multifaceted and co-ordinated approach.
Bill C-24 is before the House. It would give our police forces the tools to fight organized crime. All of us here would agree that organized criminal activity is behind much of the drug activity. It requires a two pronged approach. We have to approach the issue from a health perspective and the law enforcement perspective. We will fight the war on drugs by working together and working with our international partners.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned illicit drugs coming into the country. I was at a meeting not too long ago in my riding at which a representative of the provincial police force spoke. When the meeting was opened up to questions, I asked the police officer if more drugs were coming into the country since the elimination of the port police. As we know the government decided to eliminate all port police across Canada.
He thanked me for the question and said that I was the first person to ask that question. He said they were having a terrible time at every port because there were no port police. He said that with the removal of the port police the situation of illicit drugs entering the country should be looked at very seriously.
I ask the hon. member that when the committee meets that it take a look at that situation. I think we can make very positive changes if we bring back the port police.
John Maloney Liberal Erie—Lincoln, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting factor which the committee should look at. The elimination of the port police was a cost saving measure with the understanding that the existing municipal forces, the provincial police, as well as the RCMP could handle the situation in a co-ordinated approach. If it is not working, then it is incumbent upon this committee to explore that avenue and bring recommendations back to the government.