House of Commons Hansard #177 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was community.

Topics

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure I agree with the premise of the member's question.

It is my reading of the amendment that this would require a minimum 40-day consultation period and a maximum 90 days. There is nothing discretionary about it and that is why concern is coming from the community and from this side of the House. It may well be that a consultation period may take 45, 50, or 60 days. That may be necessary in certain circumstances. However, equally true, we may need to expedite the opening of a supervised consumption site quicker than 45 days.

The New Democrats will not agree to any amendment that would tie the hands of the Minister of Health, particularly in an emergency situation, with an arbitrary number of a minimum of 45 days. That is why we will oppose it. I would encourage the member and his colleagues to do the same.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

Conservative

Dianne Lynn Watts Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would agree with many of the comments my hon. colleague made.

I want to bring his attention to page 193 of the budget. He alluded to this a little earlier, the emergency funding to address opioid-related public health emergency. There were $16 million in 2016, nothing in 2017, nothing in 2018, nothing in 2019, nothing in 2020, nothing in 2021. Could he could comment on that?

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, as mayor of Surrey, the member did a lot to help build public health services in her community.

It is there in black and white in the budget. As I said, we can talk about all the values and good intentions we have, but it is money from the federal government that will make a real dent in this problem. I was shocked, as was my hon. colleague, to see there were zero emergency dollars devoted to the opioid overdose crisis in the budget.

My colleagues on the government side of the House may say they have put some money into established programming, but the fact is that we are in an emergency and that emergency may get worse. In fact, it has become worse.

I stood in the House when that budget was tabled and I asked how the government could fail to plan for a deepening emergency, when the opioid crisis was still very much raging across the country and likely would get worse. Unfortunately, my words were correct. It has become worse. The government did not see fit to set aside emergency funds to deal with this, and that is a shame.

I had my criticisms of the previous government on drug policy, but the former Conservative government dedicated more funds to treatment and prevention than the Liberal government has, and that is a shame.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

NDP

Sheila Malcolmson NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

Mr. Speaker, Nanaimo, the city I am honoured to represent, had 13 fatalities in the first three months of this year and 28 fatalities last year. We are a smaller city but people are dying in this emergency at the same rate as people in Vancouver. While the government delayed action for a year and a half and then the Senate delayed it for another three months, inexcusably, the human impact has been colossal.

Could the member for Vancouver Kingsway tell me who is picking up the pieces in the meantime? Who are the front-line people who are filling the gap around the lack of inaction from the federal government?

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, this is something all members of the House would join in on, to think for a moment the deep debt of gratitude that we owe to the first responders of all types, the community activists of all types who are working on the front lines of this crisis. They are the ones who are actually attending to people who are clinically dead and not breathing, not only on the streets of Vancouver but in every major municipality and town across this country. It is the firefighters, police, nurses, community health workers. In many cases it is the drug users themselves who are joining together to try to save each other.

Once again, if I can make one plea to my colleagues in the House, it is to start regarding this problem as a health problem. Addiction is substance use disorder. It is a recognized illness in the DSM-5. It is not an issue of morality, not an issue of low character, not an issue of criminality. It is a complex biopsychosocial disease, no different from diabetes, cardiac problems, or anything else. These are people who are worthy of our support. It is a health crisis and those people who are dealing with it every day on the streets of our country who are responding as health providers need our full support, and more. They need better resources.

The federal government has contributed some money to this and it should be applauded for that, but it is not enough. Until every Canadian can access detox and treatment for substance use disorder on demand, publicly paid for, just as they would if they went to the hospital to have their finger stitched up, we cannot rest.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6 p.m.

Spadina—Fort York Ontario

Liberal

Adam Vaughan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the member opposite. He has been a strong and clear voice and a fierce advocate for a better health policy to deal with this crisis and I think he has earned the respect of all of us. However, the comment I just heard was that this government is putting in less money than the previous government did, and has been less helpful on this crisis than the previous government was, even though we are the people who are bringing forth the legislation to change the way in which safe injection sites are situated in communities. In fact, my riding is going to receive a safe injection site precisely because of our progressive action.

The health accord has specific dollars for the very first time for treatment and mental health services in situations, in other words in support of housing sites. The national housing strategy, which is well over $35 billion over the next 10 years, explicitly is focused on delivering supportive housing treatment sites with addiction and mental health services at the intersectionality of those two issues. Those dollars are on the table and there is the health accord as well. We built in, as we heard the health minister in question period today, this program so it is not an emergency, but it is a systemic approach to a crisis which has materialized on city streets right across the country. In light of all of those measures, how can the member opposite say there are fewer resources being invested into this crisis than there were under the previous government?

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, I say that because I read the budgets. I said that the government has put in less money, devoted less money over the next five years for addictions treatment than the previous government had budgeted for the same time period. That is just a fact. I would be happy to sit down with my colleague and go through the last budget tabled by the Conservative government and compare it to the budget that was just tabled a few months ago, that show the expenditures over the next four years and I will show him in black and white where it says that.

I do congratulate the government on changing this legislation, as it is long overdue, but I will give it a bit of criticism for taking so long. This is a public health emergency. We must remember that the New Democrats started raising this issue in February 2016. We are approaching a year and a half later where we have legislation before the House and in that 18 months there has not even been a declaration federally of a public health emergency, which would have the positive impact of actually sanctioning the current overdose prevention sites that are operating in Vancouver against the law currently. The government will not do that.

I have asked repeatedly. First, the Liberals said that there is no need to declare it a public health emergency because it does not do anything. When I pointed out that actually it would do two things, that it would allow emergency funding to flow and it would allow them to sanction the currently illegal overdose prevention sites, I heard silence from them. While I will congratulate the current government on taking some positive steps, again, I will give it no credit for progress until the death rates in this country start going down. Liberals cannot get credit when more people are dying every month from opioid overdoses than the previous month. I will measure progress on this side of the House when death rates go down, not up, unlike my colleagues in the Liberal Party.

Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

6:05 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that Thursday, May 18 shall be an allotted day.

Bill C-7—Notice of time allocation motionPublic Service Labour Relations ActGovernment Orders

6:05 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2) with respect to the consideration of Senate amendments to Bill C-7, an act to amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board Act and other acts and to provide for certain other measures.

Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of proceedings at the said stage.

The House resumed consideration of the motion, and of the amendment.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:05 p.m.

Liberal

Ken McDonald Liberal Avalon, NL

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to discuss the amendments to Bill C-37, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other acts.

I would like to start my remarks by thanking the Standing Committee on Health, and the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as well as members of both Houses of Parliament for their time and expertise in the review of Bill C-37.

This bill proposes a number of amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and other acts, to support our government's efforts to address the current opioid crisis, as well as problematic substance abuse more generally. I will focus my remarks on Bill C-37 and the opioid crisis in Canada.

Canada is in a public health crisis due to an increasing number of opioid-related overdoses and deaths. The reality is that individuals, families, and communities across Canada are losing loved ones to this crisis, and it is more and more likely that the majority of Canadians know someone, directly or indirectly, who has been impacted.

Until very recently, only British Columbia and Alberta regularly reported on opioid overdoses and deaths. While I cannot speak about a national picture of overdoses and deaths due to drug substances, it is clear that the numbers we do have are rising. For example, in British Columbia, 931 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, an increase of 80% from 2015. In Alberta, 343 fentanyl-related deaths occurred in 2016, an increase of 33% from 2015.

According to Ontario's chief medical officer of health, approximately one in every 170 deaths in Ontario is related to opioid overdose. Furthermore, we all see the severity, through daily news articles that outline the number of overdoses and deaths from the night before. The news cannot be ignored. People are suffering and people are dying.

Our government has already taken many actions to date to address this crisis. These actions include commitments in the areas of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement, all supported by strong evidence-based and targeted public health emergency response.

In addition, recognizing that provinces, territories, and other stakeholders have an important role to play, the Minister of Health co-hosted an opioid conference and summit in November 2016, which brought together a broad range of stakeholders for a national dialogue on actions to address and reduce the harms related to opioid use in Canada.

In December 2016, the Canadian drugs and substances strategy was introduced, replacing the national anti-drug strategy with a balanced and health-focused approach. Also, Health Canada funded the Michael G. DeGroote National Pain Centre, at McMaster University, to lead a project to update the Canadian guideline for safe and effective use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, which was published this May. The goal of the updated guidelines is to maximize the benefits of opioid therapy for chronic non-cancer pain, while reducing the risk of harm.

Bill C-37 was introduced on December 12, 2016. As mentioned, it proposes a number of amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and other acts to support our government's efforts to address the current opioid crisis, as well as problematic substance use more generally. For example, it makes important proposed changes to the establishment of supervised consumption sites. Currently, supervised consumption sites are governed by the Respect for Communities Act. This act requires that applicants interested in establishing supervised consumption sites address 26 criteria in their application. Further, to renew an exemption for an existing site, the same 26 criteria must be addressed, as well as information related to two additional criteria.

Many experts agree that this administrative burden makes it difficult for supervised consumption sites to be created in communities that need them.

Evidence guides our government's current approach to drug policy, and Canadian and international research shows that when properly established and maintained, supervised consumption sites can and do save lives and indeed improve health. Without compromising the health and safety of those operating the site, its clients, or its surrounding community, Bill C-37 proposes to relieve the administrative burden on communities seeking to establish a supervised consumption site.

Rather than 26 criteria, Bill C-37 proposes five factors to be included in applications. These factors examine the impact on crime rates, the local conditions indicating need, the regulatory structure in place to support the facility, the resources available to support its maintenance, and the expressions of community support or opposition. Streamlining the application and renewal process and adding in a new transparency provision means that applicants can be assured that the process will not cause unreasonable delay. If assented to, Bill C-37 would support the establishment of supervised consumption sites by showing communities that their voices would be heard and that each application would be subject to a comprehensive review.

Also, for renewals, a new application would no longer be required. Instead, a renewal would simply be requested by informing Health Canada of any changes to the information that was submitted as part of the site's last application. If a community is benefiting from an existing supervised consumption site, then why would the federal government make it burdensome for their application to be renewed?

The Senate has adopted amendments to Bill C-37 that focus on further involving the public in their input regarding supervised consumption sites. Our government supports one of those amendments fully, the amendment to establish a minimum consultation period of 45 days when the minister chooses to post a public notice of consideration in cases where there may be extenuating circumstances.

However, our government does not support the second amendment, which is to allow for citizen advisory committees for supervised consumption sites. By setting out a mechanism for oversight that does not apply to any other health service, this would add stigma to the use of harm reduction services at a time when the focus needs to be on saving lives.

Finally, our government seeks to amend the provision requiring an offer of alternative pharmaceutical treatment at supervised consumption sites. While we share the goal of improving access to treatment, the mandatory wording could pose an additional burden to applicants seeking to establish supervised consumption sites. I repeat that this cannot be risked during such a time of urgent need.

Bill C-37 also contains additional provisions to reduce the availability and harm of street drugs. Another pressing aspect of the opioid crisis is that street drugs are being made more and more potent as they are being laced with fentanyl. Illegal fentanyl, often imported, is increasingly available, and overdoses are occurring when individuals are not aware of the potency of the substances they are using. This includes counterfeit pills made using pill presses and encapsulators. Currently, these devices can be and are legally imported into Canada by anyone, with no specific regulatory requirements.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

It being 6:15 p.m., pursuant to order made earlier today, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the amendments tabled by the Senate to Bill C-37 now before the House.

The question is on the amendment. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the amendment?

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Mr. Anthony Rota

All those in favour of the amendment will please say yea.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Mr. Anthony Rota

All those opposed will please say nay.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Mr. Anthony Rota

In my opinion the nays have it.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

And five or more members having risen:

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Mr. Anthony Rota

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the amendment, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #274

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the amendment defeated.

The next question is on the main motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Controlled Drugs and Substances ActGovernment Orders

6:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.