Mr. Speaker, despite what the parliamentary secretary might say, I believe that the government is underestimating the extent of the crisis our country is faced with. For months now, a number of my NDP colleagues and I have tried to alert the government to this very serious public health crisis. As I said, we are not the only ones. Thirteen of Canada's largest cities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities also called on the government to implement a real pan-Canada program to address this crisis, but the government is doing precious little.
In the meantime, thousands of people are dying every year. I am calling on the government to set aside funding in the upcoming 2018 budget to combat this crisis. It is imperative to take action to prevent more of our constituents from dying.
When will the government abandon the failed war on drugs and adopt a health-based approach to addiction and drug use? When will the government finally—