Mr. Speaker, we have acknowledged many times that we are in a national public health crisis due to opioid overdoses, and our government is treating this as a public health issue rather than as a criminal one. We understand that stigma and barriers to treatment need to be reduced, and that is why we have restored harm reduction as an important pillar in the national drug strategy. While we recognize that decriminalization will not ensure quality control for a dangerous drug, we have made it easier for health professionals to provide access to opioid substitution therapies. We have supported the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act and, through budget 2018, we have made investments of over $231 million to continue to develop innovative approaches—
In the House of Commons on April 23rd, 2018. See this statement in context.