Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate the member for Langley—Abbotsford, myself. I repeat, the Bloc Quebecois will support this motion.
I would however, since we now have a French translation of the amendment, read the first part if I may for the people joining us.
The motion tabled by the Canadian Alliance provides:
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;
I would like to make three comments on the wording proposed by our Canadian Alliance colleagues.
We want to sit on the committee. I am the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve in Montreal east, and drug use and traffic and shooting galleries are a reality there.
However, I do not want the philosophy and work of the committee to be considered from a “law and order” perspective. There are certain circumstances in which drug use is a problem. There are others where it is not.
I listened earlier to our colleague from Saint John. She was getting in a bit of a state even before the work had begun. I think we should issue a call for calm. She says that she herself did a study—picture it—on cannabis, and that smoking it automatically kills nine cells a second.
I hope that she will be so good as to table these studies, because this week the Canadian Medical Association—and with all due respect for the member for Saint John, I would be more inclined to go along with the Canadian Medical Association than her on these matters—asked that possession of marijuana for personal use be decriminalized because no studies had shown that it had any harmful effects.
Naturally, when it comes to heroin or other hard drugs, I think that a different attitude is in order. But I hope that in the committee's work—and I know that the member for Rosemont—Petit-Patrie also has an interest in these matters—there will be some leeway and that a “law and order” mentality will not prevail. That is my first comment.
My second comment is this. In June of last year, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois asked me to work in a group with the member for Longueuil and the member for Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert on the whole issue of street prostitution.
I visited Vancouver. I went to that part of the city where prostitution and drug use are rampant—I think it is called the middle east—and where there have been many problems. I saw horrific scenes. I must admit, I never thought such a situation could exist in Canada.
Certainly, there are links between street prostitution and drug addiction. Of course, the problem cannot be reduced to solely an effect of drug addiction, but there is a connection between the two.
Third, I also hope that the parliamentary committee our colleague wishes to strike will have the necessary resources to carry out investigations. Often, in my opinion, we rely on hearsay, on statements that often feed prejudice.
I hope that we will have the full co-operation of the departments of justice and of health and that of Correctional Service Canada, so that we will have access to all available data.
Third, I recall that a certain amount of work has already been done. Today is not the first time Canada and the provinces have addressed the consequences of drug use. As long ago as 1969, we had the Le Dain Commission. We need, I believe, to start with what has already been done. There are other basic premises as well, of course, but I do believe we need to start with what has already been done.
Our hon. colleague, the sponsor of the motion, has just made the statement that the Senate committee had restricted itself to cannabis. I have looked into this, and the Senate committee did not limit itself to the cannabis issue. It is engaged in an overview of the entire drug use situation in Canada. This Senate committee, chaired by Senator Nolin, has a two-year mandate. This is not something that can be done in a couple of days.
Even if my political party, and that of the hon. member who sponsored the motion, would like to see the Senate abolished, we ought I think to take inspiration from its resources and the work its people are doing.
We need to keep in mind that assessing the consequences of drug use cannot divorce this problem from the social considerations. We will also have to make a connection with poverty and with the meaning of life. It is interesting to see that there is often a connection between the use of drugs and an environment where poverty is prevalent. I hope that we will keep this in mind when the time comes to make recommendations and deal with these issues.
Another issue that the committee will have to examine is how effective the repressive approach has been so far. The motion reflects a degree of conservatism, in my opinion. It refers to drug use as if it were a phenomenon or a problem. However, its mover was very eloquent in concluding that, so far, the repressive approach has not been effective at all. It cannot be said that using this repressive approach, prohibiting drug use and making it a criminal offence have had much impact on the balance that we as parliamentarians are trying to establish.
I now want to deal with another important issue. Earlier, I wondered whether we should start from the framework proposed under the harm reduction strategy. This framework, with which Health Canada officials are familiar, is rather well defined. Of course, it is not a magical solution that automatically makes people stop using drugs, but it is a model for action.
The harm reduction strategy is based on three elements. There is recognition of the fact that there are people who have drug dependency problems. No moral judgment is made. No one says that it is good or bad. Rather, there is simply recognition of the fact that there are people who use drugs and that this makes them dysfunctional and can even adversely affect the communities in which they live.
Two, three, four or five years can elapse between the time when this is recognized and the time when these people actually stop using drugs, particularly soft drugs.
What can be done to ensure that drugs are used under the safest conditions possible for the user and his surroundings? The safest possible surroundings means that dirty needles are not used or shared among users, that there are places to inject safely and to exchange needles and that the needles are recovered and cannot be used in the community.
This is the model proposed under the harm reduction strategy. This model is known to the various interveners, especially people in the regional boards and those in the health field.
There is another statistic we should bear in mind in doing our work. According to police data, data available from the various police forces, the RCMP, the SPCUM and the Sûreté du Québec, barely 1% of drugs on the market are intercepted. This means of course that there is a whole element of drug use and of drug trafficking that is totally beyond police control.
According to various police data, somewhere between 1% and 10% of narcotics are intercepted by the police. Should we not conclude there is some link between the prohibitionist strategy that has been followed now for several decades and the fact that the police have been unable to stop drug traffickers? The committee should look at this question.
I also want to remind the House that, in our consideration of drug use, we should make a distinction between cannabis and heroin or other hard drugs.
In 1999, a Canadian Alliance member introduced a bill. I know that we may not name members but, since I do not know the name of his riding, allow me to disregard the standing orders for 30 seconds. I am referring to the member who is a doctor, who ran for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, and who is a friend of the leader of that party. On April 26, 1999, he introduced Bill C-503 to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana. I would ask the member who moved the motion today whether he supports the bill introduced by his colleague.
In my party, the member for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie also moved a motion, which was voted on, in which he urged parliamentarians to decriminalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes.
I understand that today's motion is about the use of drugs for non-medical purposes; that is very clear in the motion. Should we admit from the outset that cannabis should be treated differently than other drugs? In all likelihood, there is no harm associated with moderate consumption. The Canadian Medical Association reminded us that there is scientific evidence to support this.
That is so much for the premise. I am grateful to the member for Langley—Abbotsford for moving this motion. As parliamentarians, we are capable of taking an objective look at this issue. Obviously, when I talk about an objective look, I realize that we all have our own moral values regarding drugs. However, as parliamentarians, we cannot impose those morals on others.
I hope that we will be guided in our work by two main concerns: the safety of communities and the issue of crime.
Once again, questions have to be asked about the current repressive approach, which has been in effect for 50 years, has created a sizeable black market and has led to clashes within the world of organized crime.
Since 1995, there have been at least 147 victims of motorcycle gang turf wars. Battles over territory are most certainly connected with establishing areas in which they can sell drugs. These are all matters we need to bear in mind.
I can assure our Alliance colleague that the Bloc Quebecois will make a very serious contribution to this committee. I do not know whether the Canadian Alliance agrees with the amendment presented by the government on the reporting date of November, but we will have an opportunity to discuss that. I am also going to look at this with the leader of my party.
I do, however, believe that there is considerable consensus in this House on the striking of this committee. I trust that it will have all possible means available to it in order to do quality work and, therefore, draft informed recommendations.