House of Commons Hansard #131 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was community.

Topics

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:25 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to express my appreciation that the New Democrats have recognized the importance of getting this bill through. It is something that will make a profound, positive difference.

As we have seen, different levels of government and many different stakeholders are coming together to advance the issue. That is really what it is about. It goes beyond the legislation.

What Canada needs most at this point is to recognize that we are in a national crisis. Would the member not agree that when we talk about the opioid crisis, one of the things we need to do is recognize that there are many players who need to get involved? If we are successful, we will minimize the harms and the tragic deaths that are occurring every day in Canada. That means working with our provincial counterparts, municipal counterparts, first responders, and the many other stakeholders that can make a difference.

It is time for us in Ottawa to continue to show strong leadership on this file. Where we can advance, let us move forward. Would the member agree?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

NDP

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, in my riding, we have been working for years with the authorities, including the mayor of Montreal, the chief public health officer, and the police.

Everyone agrees that safe injection sites are necessary. There is going to be one in my riding. We have known for a long time that everyone has to work on this, and everyone agrees.

What is more, we have been calling on the minister for at least a year to finally introduce a bill that would allow for the creation of safe injection sites. We are anxious for that to happen. That is why we are asking that this bill be passed as quickly as possible.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

Conservative

David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, last night I was here and I listened to the NDP rage for hours against the Liberal government. Today we came into question period and we heard that their whole electoral reform position has been betrayed by the government.

The New Democrats had the opportunity about a half-hour or an hour ago to start saving lives today. They chose to stand against that. We could have taken huge steps today, right now, to deal with this ongoing opioid crisis, and New Democrats have chosen not to support that.

For years and years we have heard them talking about time allocation and raging against it. Today we find the New Democrats in bed with the Liberals.

Can the member tell us why New Democrats are now supporting the Liberals in their ongoing attempt to limit debate on bills in this House, including on Bill C-37?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

NDP

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to say that the rules of Parliament are not what is important in my riding. What is important is the lives of people who are dying.

We have been saying for months that this bill needs to be passed as quickly as possible, and this is one way of achieving that goal.

I understood from the proposal that the Conservatives made earlier that they want to remove safe injection sites from this bill.

I just gave a 10-minute speech about how important these safe injection sites are. I have no intention of getting them removed from the bill because this bill is about to be sent to committee. It will be fully debated there, and safe injection sites will remain part of this bill.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

Mr. Speaker, how important does the member believe it is to ensure that not only those affected by this directly but their family and friends around them can benefit from greater intervention right now and from supports in the future?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

NDP

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, addiction is an illness. The Supreme Court recognized that.

People with drug addictions have families who are suffering just as much as they are. These situations are very difficult to deal with. A bill that will help people overcome that problem is exactly what we want, and we have been waiting for this bill for a long time. It will help addicts and their families.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:30 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the opioid crisis unfolding right now in our communities, big and small, right across Canada, is nothing short of a national emergency. The suffering and damage this crisis is causing, not just in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, the epicentre of the crisis, but in Vancouver East and cities across British Columbia and Canada, is absolutely devastating.

I am very grateful for the Herculean efforts of first responders, front-line workers, medical practitioners, family members, advocates, and activists who have and are continuing to work tirelessly to save lives in the midst of this terrible crisis.

People are dying in our communities. Both the city of Vancouver's chief medical health officer, Dr. Patricia Daly, and the provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, have declared this crisis a medical health emergency. In fact, this is the first time in the history of British Columbia that a health emergency has been declared.

It was noted by Dr. David Juurlink, head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, that the number of overdose deaths across Canada has vastly outpaced the toll during the 2003 SARS crisis that gripped this country and was declared an emergency by the Ontario government. He stated, “Forty-four people died of SARS. We lose 70 people a week to opioids in Canada”.

Still, the federal Minister of Health has refused to declare this a national health emergency.

From the beginning of 2016 to October 2016, 338 Albertans died from an apparent drug overdose related to opioids. Fentanyl was involved in 193 of them. Two Ontarians die from opioid overdoses a day. An average of 79 people die of drug overdoses every year in Montreal. If this is not a national health emergency, I do not know what is.

Today I am here once again urging the government to do what is right and what is necessary: declare a national public health emergency. Let us remember as we debate Bill C-37 that people in communities across the country are still dying.

Bill C-37 came on the heels of an announcement by the B.C. government, which was no longer willing to wait for federal approval and decided that it would take “the extraordinary measure” of signing a ministerial order making the provincial operation of temporary overdose prevention sites legal.

For those who want to put up roadblocks to harm reduction initiatives, including supervised injection facilities, I say this. It has been more than a decade since Insite, the first supervised injection facility in North America, was established. There has not been one single overdose death in that facility. Insite has saved countless lives. It has reduced the spread of diseases. The evidence is clear, and it is irrefutable.

Van East led the way, and I am so proud of the progressive forces and the movement in a community that cares so deeply that it took this issue and drove it until we had the first supervised injection facility in North America.

I still recall vividly the imagery of 1,000 crosses planted at Oppenheimer Park in our community, what we call the killing fields. Each one of those crosses bears a name, the name of a person who somebody loved in our community, a daughter, a son, an aunt, an uncle, somebody's child. I still recall how family and friends came together and mourned those preventable deaths. It was a call to action, and we drove the issue and eventually Insite was established.

It is sad to me that despite this irrefutable evidence-based outcome, there are still those who want to block this critical health measure.

The former government took every step possible to undermine the work of Insite. Even after the Supreme Court of Canada's 9-0 decision that ordered the government to exempt Insite from prosecution, stating clearly that the government cannot close Insite because of its ideology, the Harper government passed Bill C-2, the ill-named Respect for Communities Act, which introduced near insurmountable barriers to opening new supervised injection sites in Canada. The roadblocks have been widely condemned and no doubt have contributed to preventable deaths.

After more than a year of foot-dragging, thousands of overdoses, and hundreds of needless deaths, the Liberal government today is finally bringing in measures to address the ideological relic of the years past.

While I support Bill C-37, to be clear, I would much rather that the bill was about repealing Bill C-2. Nonetheless, this is a move in the right direction. It is a step forward, so I am here to support it.

Bill C-37 has to get through the House, then it has to be sent to committee, then has to go to the Senate. It will be some time before the bill passes. I want to applaud my colleague, the member for Vancouver Kingsway, the NDP's critic for health. His proposal to try to get the bill through all stages as quickly as possible, sadly was rejected.

Many concerned citizens and organizers are so frustrated by the glaring absence of substantive action on this that they have felt compelled to act unilaterally with pop-up supervised injection sites. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. This is a testament to those individuals' courage and dedication to saving lives in our community.

Let me take a moment to thank them and acknowledge the numerous volunteers and activists; the leadership shown by Ann Livingston and her peers at VANDU; Sarah Blyth, the former Vancouver Park Board chair; and many others for their incredible dedication and caring. Were it not for their efforts, I can say with confidence that many more people would have died.

In going forward, as we wait for Bill C-37 to become law, what action can be taken to save lives? Let me start with a shout-out to all the tireless first responders for their incredible efforts.

I heard first-hand from firefighters about their experiences in this crisis, particularly from those men and women at Fire Hall No. 2, with the incredible overload of calls that came into that hall and the stresses firefighters had to face each and every day as they had to witness death. Imagine that as their work every single day.

It is not limited to Fire Hall No. 2 in my riding. In fact, all the other fire halls in my community across East Van have had an increase in calls with respect to overdose challenges and issues. I heard from firefighters who told me that during their shifts, sometimes they would have two, three, four, or more calls to go out and try to save lives. That is what they are faced with. Imagine the stress.

The BC Coalition of Nursing Associations hosted an emergency forum on the nursing response to the opioid crisis. Like so many, they are devastated by this medical health emergency, and they themselves are suffering from stress, trauma, and exhaustion. All first responders, nurses, health care workers at emergency rooms, and front-line workers with NGOs are overextended, and they deserve our support.

While the Minister of Health said that the Liberals would take action and provide support to first responders, we are still waiting. Let us get on with it.

I want to say that we need to do much more. We need to move to a longer-term resolution. Real effort needs to be made to provide addiction treatment. For some, traditional treatment works; for others, not so much. We need to move forward with providing treatment that deals with the addiction, including opioid prescriptions and opioid substitutes. The goal of stabilizing people and getting them away from the illegal market saves lives.

We also need to look at the issues around the social determinants of health. We need safe, secure, affordable housing. We need to address poverty. We need to look at the issue of breaking that cycle. We need to address aboriginal child apprehension.

We need a comprehensive approach so that we can move forward once and for all and save lives.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Arnold Chan Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to live in Vancouver in the past and to work in the Chinatown legal clinic, which I believe is part of the hon. member's riding.

I want to get her perspective on what the bill would mean for her riding and why it ultimately would be critical in saving lives. I am quite familiar with the substantive problem of drug abuse in that area.

I also want to ask a supplementary question with respect to her continuing call for a state of emergency from the Minister of Health and why that declaration would actually bring any additional powers to the chief public health officer.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:40 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, to answer the last question first, a declaration from the federal government of a public health emergency would allow for federal funding and co-ordination to be made available across the country. As well, the creation of what we call pop-up sites, these temporary safe injection sites, on an emergency basis would be facilitated.

Right now in our communities these pop-up sites have occurred, and they have been proven to save lives. This needs to be multiplied across the country. We can model actual best practices on how we can save lives. If the federal government declared a public health emergency, it would actually allow for that to take place.

On the question of others in Vancouver East, particularly those in Chinatown, and their thoughts around harm reduction, there has been a number of different perspectives, and some of course are very concerned about it. We have to educate people not to use fear to trumpet division. First and foremost, we have to put this forward. If we cannot prevent the death of people, they will never detox, will they? This and harm reduction are all about that.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC

Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House wants to do the right thing and recognizes that we have a real issue, especially my colleagues from British Columbia who are really at the coal face of this issue.

We just had a motion that would actually facilitate the vast majority of the bill going right through the system and up to the Senate. We do have some legitimate debate that can happen around community consultations. Perhaps what was in Bill C-2, the Respect for Communities Act, has now been completely gutted.

I know that communities can provide much wisdom. We thought having a methodical process around how communities engaged about a safe consumption was worthy of more debate.

How can the member justify taking the vast majority of the bill, on which we all agree is very important, and delay it? To be quite frank, this will perhaps create a number of weeks of additional delay.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:45 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, the people who created delays in ensuring that harm reduction initiatives were happening in our community and the supervised injection facilities were available as a provision of health measures in communities across the country were from the previous government. Even though the Supreme Court of Canada said “no” to the former government's approach, we still are fighting that fight.

The evidence of Insite is overwhelming. It saves lives. It prevents the spread of diseases. It actually reduces chaos in our community. What more do we need to demonstrate that it is an effective health measure?

We need to move forward with it. To suggest that somehow we can move this forward without including a supervised injection facility is simply not acceptable. We know it has proven to save lives. If we truly want to do that, then let us get on with it.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 38, to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, Transportation; the hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship; and the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, Indigenous Affairs.

Resuming debate. The hon. member for Surrey Centre.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in support of Bill C-37, an act that would better equip both health and law enforcement officials to reduce the harms associated with problematic substance use in Canada.

One of the many important amendments proposed in the bill is to streamline the application process for communities seeking to establish supervised consumption sites. Supervised consumption sites are controlled hygienic settings where people can bring previously obtained drugs to use under the supervision of health care professionals and gain access to or information regarding other health and social services, including treatment. In other words, supervised consumption sites are a harm reduction measure and have been proven to be effective for communities where they are needed.

Our government, since the beginning of its mandate, has been very clear in its support for harm reduction measures. These measures have been proven to reduce the negative health and social impacts associated with problematic substance abuse.

Addiction is a complex issue. I also want to be clear with my fellow members in the House that addiction is a health issue and not a criminal one. Not every individual will respond positively to the same treatment and not every individual is even willing or able to enter treatment on any given day. Evidence demonstrates that individuals who are outside of treatment are at increased risk of major health and social harms, including overdose and death. This is why we must be pragmatic in our response and must let evidence guide us to effective solutions. Now, more than ever, as our country grapples with an ever-increasing opioid crisis, it is essential that evidence-based harm reduction measures be part of the government's comprehensive drug policy.

On December 12, the Minister of Health announced the new Canadian drugs and substances strategy, which restores harm reduction as a key pillar alongside prevention, treatment, and enforcement. Officially including harm reduction in Canada's new drug strategy was the first step. Putting that commitment into action to save lives is the next step.

The evidence available on the effectiveness of properly establishing and maintaining supervised consumption sites is indisputable. These sites save lives without having a negative impact on the surrounding community. Let me be clear. This commitment will save lives, including in my community.

Surrey and, more broadly, British Columbia face a health crisis. I take solace in how neighbourhoods, communities, cities, the province, and now the federal government have stepped up to respond. I often hear stories in my riding of how this drug has devastated lives and families, but for every one story I hear, I hear three more about how folks have stepped up and responded, whether it is local soup kitchens or the newly created Surrey RCMP Outreach Team, which, in the last two weeks, responded to over 55 overdoses. It is heartening to see how Canadians have come together to respond to this crisis, and this new drug strategy is the next step.

I should have mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, that I will be sharing my time with the member of Parliament for Victoria.

This legislation is widely viewed by public health experts as a barrier to establishing new supervised consumption sites in communities where they are wanted and needed to help prevent the spread of disease and countless overdose deaths. It is time for these barriers to be removed and I am proud that Bill C-37 proposes to do just that.

Bill C-37 would support the establishment of supervised consumption sites by assuring communities that their voices would be heard and that each application would be subject to a comprehensive review, while, at the same time, starting from a position that would recognize and acknowledge the compelling evidence that supervised consumption sites work.

In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada considered this same evidence and concluded that where a "site will decrease the risk of death and disease, and there is little or no evidence that it will have a negative impact on public safety, the Minister should generally grant an exemption."

To guide the making of future decisions, the Supreme Court set out five factors that must be considered. These include: evidence, if any, on the impact of such a facility on crime rates; the local conditions indicating a need for such a site; the regulatory structure in place the support the facility; the resources available to support its maintenance; and expression of community support or opposition.

Bill C-37 respects the decision rendered by the highest court in Canada by proposing to replace the 26-point criteria currently in legislation with these five factors.

Reducing the number of criteria applicants would have to address would relieve the administrative burden on communities seeking to establish a supervised consumption site, but it would do so without compromising the health and safety of those operating the site, its clients, or the surrounding community.

To help applicants through the supervised consumption site application process, our government would post an application form and simplified guidance document online. The application would indicate the type of information that would support the five Supreme Court criteria and would reduce unnecessary burden on applicants.

With respect to other stakeholders, such as the municipal government and local police, their views would continue to be considered through the requirement for broad community consultation, thus removing the need to attain formal letters from these stakeholders.

The proposed amendments will also simply the information required to support an application. For example, applicants will no longer be required to submit evidence that supervised consumption sites are effective and have public health benefits. The evidence in this regard is clear. Instead, applicants will need to demonstrate the need for the site and the public health benefits of the proposed site for their local community.

Further, with respect to renewals, existing supervised consumption sites would not longer require application. Instead, a renewal would simply be requested by informing Health Canada of any changes to the information that was submitted as part of a site's last application. This proposal will ensure that the existing sites can focus on serving the needs of their community rather than filling out onerous application forms.

Beyond the criteria, the Respect for Communities Act also includes specific principles that the minister must consider when evaluating an application.

Bill C-37 proposes to remove these principles so that decisions on applications can be based on evidence. It will also increase transparency around the decision made on applications for supervised consumption sites.

If passed, the bill will require decisions on applications to be made public including, if applicable, the reasons for refusing an application.

Our government is committed to making objective, transparent, and evidence-based decisions on any future application to establish supervised consumption sites, and we are committed to making those decisions within a reasonable time frame.

I can assure the House that the review process would continue to be comprehensive, but it would no longer present unnecessary barriers.

These proposed changes will introduce flexibility into the application process so it can be adapted and updated over time to reflect new science and allow communities to respond more quickly to emerging health issues.

I hope all members of the House will support this important legislation so we can better support communities in their effort to address this serious public health issue.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Before we have a vote on shutting down debate on this very important bill, which I know will save lives, I want to give my parliamentary colleagues in the Liberal government, the NDP, and all members in this place another opportunity to reconsider their refusal to pass critical portions of the bill that can start saving lives today. I know my colleagues and all parties want to save lives. I know the Minister of Health, who is a physician, wants to do the right thing.

Therefore, I will repeat my earlier proposal and seek consent to adopt a motion that separates out the supervised injection site section of the bill. This proposal would also adopt, at all stages, the remaining parts of the bill. We are also willing to allow the supervised injection section of the bill to go to committee today.

I therefore ask for the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion: That Bill C-37, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other acts be divided into two bills: Bill C-37(A), an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other acts (supervised consumption sites) and Bill C-37(B), an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other acts; that Bill C-37(A) be composed of clause 26(6), new section 31(1.1); clause 26(7), revised section 31(8); clause 40(6), revised section 55(1)n; clause 40(14); clause 40(15); clause 41, and clause 42; that Bill C-37(B) be composed of all the remaining parts of Bill C-37; that the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary; that the House order the printing of bills C-37(A) and C-37(B); and that Bill C-37(A) be placed on the Order Paper for consideration of the House at second reading and referral to the Standing Committee on Health; and Bill C-37(B) be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred at report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed.

If we did this, we would be able to expedite the entire procedure of moving this forward. Now that my colleagues have had time to reconsider, I think we can get unanimous consent for this.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Mr. Speaker, to contribute to this debate, I want to ask my colleague this. What I have just proposed in my amendment would mean exactly what he talked about in his speech. What the government is proposing is that we shut down debate and this whole bill will go to committee, and that will take time. What I am proposing is that we can work immediately on passing the parts of the bill that there is no conflict on and immediately send the supervised injection part of it to committees.

Therefore, if he really wants to start saving lives right away, this is the best way to do it. We are willing. We are very sincere. I do not understand why my colleagues on the Liberal side do not want to move this forward immediately. Could he explain to the House why he voted against this?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Liberal

Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, I voted against this because the member is dissecting a bill and having only one part of it sent to committee. We are asking for the whole part to be sent to committee.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

We'll pass the rest of it. We'll pass it right now.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Liberal

Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, the whole part is essential, and that is the best way to deal with this bill.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Before I go to the next round of questions and comments, I want to remind hon. members that the way it work is a member asks a question and waits for an answer, not screaming or shouting across the floor while the answer is coming because one cannot really hear what the other is answering to the question. That just seems logical to me. I thought I would bring that up.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I was one of the individuals who said no because a great deal of effort and consultations has taken place with many different stakeholders, including provinces, municipalities, first responders, and many others, who recognized the value of this entire legislation. The member tried a second time to divide the bill. If he really wants to contribute to resolving this problem, he needs to recognize and recommend to his caucus that we pass the bill in its entirety. There will no doubt be an opportunity to vote on it. I hope the Conservative Party, collectively, will support the bill going to committee and somehow even allowing it to pass through committee and third reading.

The NDP has recognized the importance of the legislation. The Government of Canada has done its homework in presenting this entire bill. Would the member not agree with me that if the Conservatives recognize this as a crisis situation, as the NDP has, they would see the value in keeping the bill intact and passing it in a timely fashion?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5 p.m.

Liberal

Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague, the member for Winnipeg North. Had members of the opposite side been very sincere in their approach to have safe injection sites or substance sites, they would not have made it so onerous in the past.

Perhaps we would have been on the front line today in dealing with substance abuse. We would have had more of these centres opened up. We would have had first responders with better resources. Instead, we are, in 2017, working on something that should have been done in 2011. It should have been easier back then, so that we could have dealt with this last year in a much more effective manner.

Therefore, if the intent of those members is to actually work with the Supreme Court decision, work with first responders, and work with those who are affected by the devastating affects of this illicit drug, then they would not have done that, and they would expedite the smooth and safe passage of this bill through committee and on to second reading.

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:05 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Mr. Speaker, the bill says that the minister has the final say on the injection site location and approval. If there is a conflict between the local municipality and the minister,whose authority will be followed?

Second readingControlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:05 p.m.

Liberal

Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, the onus is going to be on evidence, and the evidence will speak volumes. This decision should not be political. No Nimbyism should exist here, which is why an evidence-based decision shall be made.

If there is a conflict, that is where the minister would have to use her judicial authority to make such a decision. However, it should be entirely based on evidence, and the evidence will be based on the Supreme Court decision of 2011.