Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in response to the excellent question from my colleague, I will say that before being a politician, I am first and foremost a humanist. Now, as a humanist, I think that we have a responsibility toward all oppressed people. Furthermore, one of our ambitions is to restore a good relationship with the first nations and to combat the discrimination that they too are facing.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there are some politicians, but other people as well outside of politics, who have definitely fuelled that fear and that anger. They have been stoking the fires of intolerance for too long. I would rather not point the finger at anyone, for I believe that all Canadians should spend some time examining their consciences to consider the climate that may have been created by their actions, words, and silences, or by policies they tacitly supported, directly or indirectly, and how that climate may have developed over recent years.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have never been any prouder to speak after one of my colleagues in the House, the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills. I commend her for her courage. She is an inspiration to me, and I think to a lot of people across the country. It is with reluctance and regret that I take the floor today.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, the section the member's party is suggesting be separated from the bill is the section that would change the 26 criteria the previous government put in place to five criteria, which would streamline the application for safe consumption sites in communities where they are needed and where they are appropriate.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I heard the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles say that the Liberals are the most crass people. I believe that is unparliamentary language. Therefore, I invite him to pause and reflect, apologize, and withdraw his remarks.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned that community support as stated by the Supreme Court was not meant as a way to prevent safe consumption sites from opening. It was not meant to prevent the opening of safe consumption sites. We have taken the exact language that is in the Supreme Court judgment, which states that one of the factors to be taken into account is the expression of community support or opposition.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I always find it a little rich to be lectured on democracy by the Conservatives, who developed an expertise in all sorts of measures that were, frankly, far from democratic, and they developed quite the expertise on time allocation. The reason we are moving forward with the bill as fast as possible, and we have the support of the NDP, is precisely because the bill would save lives.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Conservative Party member for her speech. I often hear Conservatives on the other side of the House talking as though the communities were never consulted about the bill that we introduced. I would simply like to remind them that, under paragraph 42(2)(e), some of the information that will be requested by the Minister of Health will be expressions of community support or opposition.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, on such an important issue as safe consumption sites, which could, indeed, save lives, according to the vast majority of health experts, facts and evidence, and what we have seen in Vancouver, it has to proceed quickly. It became a partisan issue. The previous Conservative government responded to the Supreme Court judgment that set out five clear criteria on which to approve sites in communities where they are needed and, instead, provided 26 onerous, lengthy, complicated criteria that made it hard for communities to have the needed safe consumption sites, which prevent sickness and save lives.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I want to the thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his speech, and I thank his party for the position it has taken on Bill C-37. Indeed, this bill will ease the criteria so that safe injection sites can be approved quickly in communities where they are needed most.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, there is definitive evidence that supervised consumption sites save lives. What we are doing with Bill C-37 and what people need to understand is that we are complying with the Supreme Court's 2011 ruling in Insite, by allowing access to these supervised consumption sites in communities where they are necessary and useful.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I think the government is doing all it can to respond to this crisis. The question allows me to point out a few things that this government has done. Health Canada has issued a necessary exemption to Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux to provide three supervised consumption sites in Montreal, which took nearly two years under the previous government's 26 criteria in Bill C-2, and now we are moving forward with Bill C-37.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House of Commons today to speak in support of Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other Acts. This legislation is long-awaited and evidence-based, and it can save lives.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her support of Bill C-37 as well as for her tireless efforts and advocacy in responding to the opioid crisis in Canada. She raises an interesting point. Our goal, of course, is to balance privacy with responding to the crisis we are seeing.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with the member when he said that this issue of the opioid crisis in Canada needs to be addressed immediately. Safe consumption sites, unlike what he said, do not perhaps save lives. They do save lives. That is why we are moving forward with the bill.