Health committee  I think it would make the bill better and maximize people calling. Any hesitation is a problem.

Health committee  [Inaudible—Editor] would work the other way around, too, in that if people do get arrested for very small amounts or very small warrants for shoplifting and that, word will get out on the street very quickly, which will lessen the impact of this legislation, so it works both ways

Health committee  I would agree.

Health committee  Yes, they should be part of a larger, more comprehensive campaign to bring awareness to the various policy shifts that we need to make to prevent overdoses. I think that's where health and enforcement have a huge role to play working together. Messaging from the police around thi

Health committee  Yes, and I think the best way to do that is to have them not attend at all, but that's not what this bill is about. Absolutely, there are nightmare stories coming out of the U.S. about police arresting people at scenes where good Samaritan legislation is in place. The U.S. legisl

Health committee  Our position is that we should see this bill in the context of a national overdose epidemic. We should take a health emergency attitude towards it and try to do as much as possible to make this bill precipitate as many calls as possible. I understand being incremental. You know,

Health committee  It's the same in Vancouver with the non-attendance at overdose calls. Not that many people know about it. There is getting legislation through and then there's the commitment by the government and its agencies filtered down to the community to communicate it. For this legislation

Health committee  Thank you. My name is Donald MacPherson. I am a board member of the Pivot Legal Society. I am also, I have to confess, the director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, and Pivot is one of our coalition members. I'll try not to repeat many of the statistics that have been throw