Mr. Chair, Portugal is not Canada and Canada is not Portugal. In looking at jurisdictions even within Canada, I note that my friends opposite have outlined issues in their communities. These communities are sometimes even smaller in size compared to, say, places like Toronto. I do not think it is necessarily fair to compare what is happening in different jurisdictions.
Obviously we need to look at best practices that are based on the best information that is out there. However, we cannot solely base things on one issue alone.
Moreover, decriminalization is not a panacea. It is not the solution. A number of issues need to be addressed in order to reduce the numbers. Certainly it is not a silver bullet, which I discussed earlier.