Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand in the House today on behalf of Vancouver Islanders who are petitioning the federal government over the opioid crisis. The petitioners note that the number of preventable deaths, which is well into the thousands now, has surpassed the total number of deaths from all other public health emergencies in the last 20 years including SARS, H1N1 and Ebola. They note that problematic substance use is a health issue, not a criminal issue, and that continuing the criminalization approach to this problem does nothing to solve it.
Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the government to declare the current opioid crisis a national public health emergency. They would like to see the current drug policy reformed to decriminalize personal possession and the federal government to lead in establishing a network of safe supply so that those who are addicted to these harmful substances can get the help they need.