Mr. Chair, the problem we find ourselves in today is not something that happened in the last few years. It has really taken decades to get here. It has come from a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of addiction over the decades where we treated addiction as if it were a character defect or an issue of morality instead of a health issue. The result is that we have criminalized drug use and stigmatized addiction. The result of that is the obsession and compulsion to use, and the fog and detachment from reality that accompanies and is a feature of addiction means there is only a brief period of time when a person who suffers from addiction is ready for treatment. The health care system must be receptive and nimble enough to receive that person immediately. However, instead, we have built a system where there are wait-lists of six months, 12 months, 18 months, two years, and so that moment is lost.
We would never tolerate that for any other health issue. What about someone who needed a heart valve replacement or he or she would die within 48 hours? We would not put that person on a wait-list and tell him or her to come back in a year. That would be illogical. It would be absurd. However, that is what we do with addiction today.
The Liberals are patting themselves on the backs for spending $150 million on treatment. However, if we divide that among 10 provinces and three territories, it works out to about $11.5 million per province and territory. That is not enough to open one 50-bed treatment centre per province or territory.
I wonder if my hon. colleague can comment on what kind of investment he thinks is necessary to actually build our health care system so that treatment is available upon demand so that every person suffering from substance use disorder in this country, when they need treatment, can get it immediately so that people do not die, like the touching story of the member's own experience that he related to the House tonight.