Health  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for St. John's East for being a strong advocate on mental health and many other issues. Our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones to suicide. We also reach out to those who struggle with suicidal thoughts. Each life lost shatters an entire family, the community and so much more.

Health  Mr. Speaker, we all know that the member is a compassionate and tremendous advocate on these issues, championing them to help support our most vulnerable who struggle with substances. Recently we announced a renewed Canadian drugs and substances strategy, a comprehensive framework guiding our efforts to address the toxic drug supply and overdose crisis.

Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank  Mr. Chair, the hon. member and I have indeed spoken on many occasions about our deep concern for peace in the region. I would say that diversity is our strength in this country, but inclusion is a choice, and it is one that we must model each and every day. My own daughter is on a university campus and she took off her Star of David today.

Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank  Mr. Chair, the Minister of Foreign Affairs just returned home to Canada after days in the region working with our regional local partners as well as on a multilateral effort to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and create humanitarian corridors. We are deeply committed to this work, as much as we are committed to making sure that the hostages being held under Hamas right now are released.

Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank  Mr. Chair, today we announced the appointment of the new special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting anti-Semitism, the hon. former ambassador Deborah Lyons. One of her first tasks is to work with her special envoy counterpart on Islamophobia, because as the members of this chamber well know, this is a government that is committed to combatting hate and committed to creating safe spaces for all Canadians, no matter who they are, where they worship or how they identify.

Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank  Mr. Chair, to reiterate what our Minister of International Development said, not one penny of the humanitarian aid that is going to help those in Gaza who need help at this moment will go to Hamas. We have some of the strictest regimes for funding in the world. We only work with trusted third-party partners, and we will stand clearly against terrorism.

Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank  Mr. Chair, I will begin by saying I will be sharing my time this evening with the Minister of International Development. So many people in my riding, in my community in York Centre and across Canada, constituency by constituency, have lost loved ones or are facing the unbearable unknown of whether their children, parents or friends are alive.

Health  Mr. Speaker, ensuring the safety and quality of Canada's blood supply is our top priority. Health Canada regulates plasma sites to ensure plasma products sold in Canada are manufactured in accordance with strict safety standards. Health Canada will take action if those strict standards and regulations are not upheld.

Health  Mr. Speaker, this week is Mental Illness Awareness Week, and this is the first question we have had this week from the Conservatives asking about the well-being of Canadians. I will answer the member by saying this. On this side of the House, we do not put in a false narrative between harm reduction and treatment.

Health  Mr. Speaker, it is not worth taking the risk on the outdated perspectives of the Conservative government when it comes to addiction. I will quote Ben Perrin, the public safety and justice adviser of former prime minister Harper, who sat in this House. He said the opposition is “rehashing Conservative, war-on-drugs tropes that have been long since discredited and have been found to be not only ineffective but costly and deadly.”

Health  Madam Speaker, I do not think there is a single member of the House who does not mourn the tragic loss of anyone in this overdose crisis. However, I have to say to the member across the way that spreading misinformation about harm reduction, and conflating harm reduction and treatment, loses lives rather than saves them.

Health  Mr. Speaker, it seems that, as usual, the opposition is behind the times and is offering nothing when we address this critical issue. Thankfully, we have other members of the House who do. We would invite them to work with us rather than continuing to promote fear and stigma. We have been working with B.C. since 2018 on litigation against big pharma and those who enabled them.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I was in Barrie this summer on International Overdose Awareness Day, and I spoke to Christine Nayler, the mother of Ryan, who said that harm reduction is health care. We are saving lives. The member knows perfectly well that safe supply is highly regulated and that diversion of supply is illegal in this country.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the NDP has worked with us step by step in understanding that the toxic drug supply in our country is killing those we love. Families, communities, no one is left unharmed by this. That is why we have taken a comprehensive approach, province by province and working with our counterparts, to make sure that we are saving lives.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick out one thing. This is my first time rising in the House as the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. For colleagues who know my work and advocacy since setting foot in this chamber, it has been about having a trauma-informed lens in everything we do and understanding the lived experience of Canadians, especially with respect to something such as this, the sex offender registry.