Mr. Speaker, the second petition is in regard to addressing the opioid crisis. This is a very large concern across my riding. Many of these members from my constituency are from small communities, such as Port Hardy and Port McNeill. They want to make sure that the government understands that over 4,000 Canadians died in 2017 and over 2,800 in 2016 due to a preventable opioid overdose resulting from fentanyl-poisoned sources. The number of preventable deaths has surpassed the total number of deaths in all other public health emergencies in the last 20 years. This is a very serious concern. Those who have died as a result of a preventable opioid overdose from fentanyl-poisoned sources were valued citizens of this country: our children, siblings, spouses, parents, family members, clients and friends.
My constituents are asking the Government of Canada to declare the current opioid overdose crisis from fentanyl-poisoning a national public health emergency, to reform the current drug policy to decriminalize personal possession and to create, with urgency and immediacy, a system to provide safe, unadulterated access to substances so that the people who use these substances do not die.