Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine recently lost her nephew to a fentanyl overdose. It is not the first loss our country or my community has faced because of the opioid crisis. If we do not keep working to change historic and failed drug policies, it will not be the last.
In 2016, opioids killed almost 3,000 Canadians, and last year, over 4,000 Canadians. We need new solutions.
We need to treat drug abuse as a health issue, expand harm reduction and treatment options, and remove the criminal sanction for low-level possession to stop stigmatizing the very people we want to save.
I am proud that our government has expanded safe consumption sites and provided over $200 million in this year's budget to address the opioid crisis, including to improve access to treatment services, but we need to do more.
Portugal has proven that a public health approach can reduce problematic drug use, HIV transmission rates, drug-related deaths, and significantly increase the number of people who seek treatment.
We need to follow the evidence to save lives.