Madam Chair, in May 2021, the City of Vancouver submitted its final proposal to Health Canada requesting an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to decriminalize the simple possession of illicit drugs. It is now half a year later, and the federal government has yet to render a decision.
Given that the catastrophic death toll from Canada's drug poisoning crisis is growing every single day, does the minister believe that this is an acceptable delay?