Debates of Nov. 26th, 2020

Health—Main Estimates, 2020-21

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I can commit to the member opposite that I will keep at this. As the member opposite knows, Health Canada cannot unilaterally change the policies of Héma-Québec and Canadian Blood Services. We have supported them to do the research they need to make these changes and—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Revenue.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Chair, it is great to rise this evening. I will be speaking for 10 minutes, and then have five minutes of questions and comments with the minister.

The Government of Canada remains deeply concerned about the devastating impact the overdose crisis continues to have on people, families and communities across the country. Since 2016, over 16,300 Canadians have lost their lives to opioid-related overdoses.

Tragically, thousands more Canadians are experiencing harms related to problematic use of various substances, including methamphetamines and alcohol. Problematic substance use impacts families, friends, communities and loved ones from all walks of life, creating losses felt by tens of thousands of people. The crisis is so severe today, no community remains untouched.

We have been living with the overdose crisis for a long time and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this tragic crisis. A year ago, we could see an improvement as the number of overdoses and deaths in some of the most affected areas was steadily decreasing.

However, everything changed with the emergence of COVID-19. Since March 2020, several provinces and territories have reported historic levels of opioid-related deaths and harm.

Recent reports from Ontario have shown that there was a 38% increase in opioid-related deaths in the first 15 weeks of the pandemic compared with the 15 weeks prior. It is predicted that if opioid-related deaths continue at the current weekly rate, there will be over 2,200 lives lost in the province by the end of the year. This will be a 50% increase in deaths compared with 2019.

We know that 1,048 people in British Columbia died between March and September of this year as a result of overdoses. To put this in perspective, this is approximately four times the number of people in British Columbia who have died from COVID-19.

Other jurisdictions across the country are pointing to similar trends. For example, Alberta reported a record high of 301 opioid poisoning deaths from April to June 2020. This was more than double the number that occurred from January to March 2020.

Saskatchewan has reported 296 suspected and confirmed drug-related deaths so far in 2020, breaking the record total in 2018.

In Quebec, Montreal recorded the highest number of overdoses in over five years in July. Unfortunately, this spike lasted until October in Montreal.

In short, in light of these reports and the available data, 2020 is on track to becoming the deadliest year in Canada's history in terms of overdose deaths.

There is no doubt that several contributing factors have led to the surge in overdose deaths, yet there are two that are particularly significant.

First, public health measures related to COVID-19 for physical distancing, self-isolation and worker safety have contributed to reduced availability, and utilization of, substance use treatment and harm reduction services. For example, there are reports of significantly decreased foot traffic at supervised consumption sites. In some cases, there have been site closures. With over 2.3 million visits nationwide and not a single overdose death, we know that these services save lives when they are utilized. Social distancing and lockdown measures have led to the unintended consequence that more people have been using drugs alone, which considerably increases the risk of overdose and death, and when people are isolated they cannot reach out for help.

Second, border closures have had an impact on the supply of illegal drugs. We are hearing from law enforcement, and from people working on the front lines, that the availability and composition of street drugs has worsened during COVID-19. They are seeing highly toxic synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil appearing more frequently in street drugs. The consequences of this reality are unsurprising. More people are experiencing overdose deaths and other drug-related harms.

Since 2016, the government's approach to the overdose crisis has been comprehensive, collaborative and guided by our federal drug strategy: the Canadian drugs and substances strategy. The Canadian drugs and substances strategy takes a public-health-focused approach and lays out our framework for evidence-based actions to reduce the harms associated with substance use in Canada. It includes four pillars: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.

We conducted and co-ordinated our work with other levels of government, indigenous peoples, addiction experts, service providers, first responders, law enforcement, those directly affected and other partners.

The government adopted a comprehensive approach with specific measures in the four pillars to deal with the overdose crisis and the problems of substance abuse more generally.

The government has taken action to implement a number of measures to address the overdose crisis head-on at the ground level, including supporting communities so they have the tools they need to help keep people at risk of overdose safe. We listened to the provinces and public health professionals to ensure we understood their challenges. At their request, we changed federal regulations to make it easy for people with substance use disorder to access the medications they needed. Specifically, we issued a class exemption for pharmacists to make it easier for people to access medications during the pandemic, while following public health advice, such as physical distancing.

Through Health Canada's substance use and addictions program, we are providing funding for 11 projects to provide a safer supply of pharmaceutical-grade medications for people with opioid use disorder in British Columbia, Ontario and new Brunswick. This includes five multi-year pilot projects and six shorter-term initiatives, funded in response to the risk posed by the worsening toxic illegal drug supply as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. These innovative projects will be independently evaluated and this assessment will contribute to building the evidence base to support the scaling up of effective models.

In August, the Minister of Health reached out to the provincial and territorial ministers of health and regulatory colleges to encourage action at all levels to better provide people who used drugs with a full spectrum of options for receiving care from practitioners. This includes increasing access to safer pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to the contaminated illegal drug supply for people at risk of overdose.

We also talked to public health workers in the provinces and municipalities about the unique challenges that we were facing in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19, while also protecting homeless Canadians. To help address their needs, we made it easier for overdose prevention sites to be established rapidly in temporary community shelters and other locations.

We also facilitated the adoption of the services of the operators of existing supervised injection sites to promote physical distancing and follow public health guidance.

To help front-line service providers obtain all the information about these regulatory changes, we prepared a set of resources explaining the changes and encouraging their implementation.

These new measures have been enacted to help vulnerable people get the supports and services they need during the pandemic.

In addition to regulatory barriers, we also increased federal investment. For instance, in July the Government of Canada committed to providing $500 million to address immediate needs and gaps in the support and protection of people experiencing challenges related to mental health, substance abuse and/or homelessness.

These investments are part of the more than $19 billion invested in the safe restart agreement to help the provinces and territories safely restart their economy and to guarantee that Canadians will have the support they need in these difficult times.

We continue to work closely with the provinces and territories on the implementation of the emergency treatment fund, which was announced in 2018. The fund provided $150 million of one-time matched emergency funding for provinces and territories to support multi-year projects that would improve access to evidence-based treatment services in the context of the overdose crisis. We have heard—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The member will have to ask his questions. His 10 minutes are up.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Chair, Canada has been accused of vaccine nationalism, securing far more doses for its population than it needs.

Why did the government adopt this approach?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Chair, the member's speech was incredibly compassionate. He spoke about people who used substances and the supports we were putting in place to better protect people from the risk of the opioid overdose. He is right. It is a national tragedy as well.

Our government has been working so hard, ever since we were elected, to reverse so much of the harmful policy in place through the Conservative legacy of being tough on people who used substances. Quite frankly, these are our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and children. I cannot tell members how many times I have comforted somebody in my community who had lost someone to an opioid overdose.

We are continuing this work, as the member knows. We are working with the provinces and territories to accelerate access to tools, as he mentioned, such as safer access to prescription substances and better access to treatments and supports. We are encouraging the provinces and territories to take strong action to protect the lives of people who use substances. He is right that the—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the hon. minister that the length of the answer should be about the length of the question, unless the member would like the minister to elaborate longer than the length of the question.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Chair, the minister can continue.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I also want to thank the member for his hard work in his community. I know he is also quite connected to the skilled trades, which is another area that has been working really hard to understand the context of substance use among men, in particular men who work in the skilled trades.

We have more to do together, but I am confident, with the compassion I have heard in the member's voice tonight and with the full understanding of the need to be compassionate, kind and to treat substance use as the physical illness instead of one of criminality, we will get to a place where we will reduce the stigma for people who use substances, so they can come forward and get the treatment they need and deserve.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Chair, can Canada expect Health Canada to approve vaccines in line with the timelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other international regulators?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, our regulatory system is designed, first and foremost, with the health and safety of Canadians in mind. That is not compromised in any way, shape or form.

Canadians expect us to ensure that whatever we approve through Health Canada is safe for use in Canada as well as effective and of high quality.

Having said that, we know there is an urgency in getting access to a vaccine. Therefore, I issued an interim order this fall that would allow Health Canada to review data for companies on a rolling basis, facilitating access to data so we could make timely decisions. Health Canada regulators are working around the clock to review this data as it comes in and with the manufacturing companies to fill in those data gaps.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Chair, why is the Government of Canada prioritizing international vaccine candidates over made-in-Canada solutions?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, our top priority is to access safe and effective vaccines for Canadians. Supporting domestic vaccine projects has been an important part of our strategy. We have spent over a billion dollars in support of early stage research on COVID-19 clinical trials of domestic vaccine candidates and the expansion of domestic bio-manufacturing capacity.

As an example, on October 23, we announced an investment of $173 million in Quebec City-based Medicago. This funding will help to advance the company's vaccine candidates through clinical trials.

Our portfolio is among the best in the world. We have more doses per capita than any other country.

On the member's earlier statement—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry, the time is up.

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, on what date will a national system to certify who has received the COVID-19 vaccine be available?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Chair, we are working with the provinces and territories right now on all aspects of the vaccination program in Canada, including a data system that can track vaccinations and follow up.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, when will that system be up and running?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, that system will be up and running as the vaccines are delivered to Canadians.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, January, February, March, approximate ballpark, when will the system to certify who received a COVID-19 vaccine be up and running?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, we are working with provinces and territories now to ensure a system will be available when vaccinations become available.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, is the system going to be an IT system that is available across jurisdictions or is it the little yellow paper vaccination certificate from the 1970s?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I think the member is speaking about the vaccine immunization data system that is used, certainly in my province of Ontario, and it illustrates just how far we have to go together. I have every confidence that we will be able to accomplish this—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, how much has been invested by the federal government, if anything, on a national system to certify who has received the COVID-19 vaccine?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, we are working right now to ensure that we have everything necessary for a national immunization system, including the data that will track who has received the—