Health committee  Integrated Youth Services, as Minister Bennett outlined, was an important priority area of the $5 billion in investments in mental health bilateral agreements that were made. That is ongoing. She spoke as well to the fact that integrated youth services, which are really about r

Health committee  I think we've been really clear in our position in government, and also Minister Bennett, that we view addiction as a public health issue.

Health committee  I will defer to Dr. Sharma to talk about the medical diagnosis.

Health committee  We have been working with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use on the low-risk drinking guidelines that were put out for consultation. In addition, we've been supporting research and community approaches. We know that certain populations most frequently experiencing harms from

Health committee  Part of our consultations included funding a study with Yukon on labelling of alcohol to see the evidence on what labelling can assist with, as well as funding through SUAP managed alcohol programs and clinical management. This is part of the consultations and what we're working

Health committee  As Minister Bennett outlined, the $5 million over 10 years is still only halfway through to completion. That money is continuing to flow right now in real time to provinces and territories. In last year's budget, the government undertook to continue its work in consulting with pr

Health committee  Yes, we can provide the list of substances in the B.C. exemption and the rationale that B.C. provided us for its request and its application.

Health committee  The 2.5-gram exemption is what law enforcement has indicated is a majority level of drugs seized. Around 85% of drug seizures are at a level below 2.5 grams. Most of those drugs are mixed. As the minister indicated, pure fentanyl in those quantities is not a substance that would

Health committee  The proposal from British Columbia was the result of consultations at a table that involved all stakeholders, including law enforcement. The—

Health committee  Health Canada considers the exemption proposal that is presented to it by the provinces. We evaluate it from a public safety and public health approach, according to our responsibilities under the act.

Health committee  There's a period of coming into force. The exemption will not come into force until the end of January 2023. The intervening period is a period of intensive work. We'll be accompanying the Province of B.C. in this process. One of the main areas of work is provision of guidance an

Health committee  Our strategy to address the opioid crisis has a wide tool kit that involves quite a number of different tools. Decriminalization is one of those tools in reducing stigma. Decriminalization has been shown in different jurisdictions to encourage people suffering from addictions to

Health committee  There are a variety of different approaches that have been taken in different jurisdictions, and the types of substances that are included by jurisdictions reflect the use patterns that they see in their jurisdictions. The inclusion of fentanyl as part of the drug supply in Canad

Health committee  Indeed, the standard on integrated youth services and the work that is being done from coast to coast to coast in this country on integrated youth services is extremely promising. It isn't enough just to provide addiction supports. We also need other kinds of public health supp

Health committee  In regard to Bill C-5, this is a Justice-led bill. It's not really within our purview. What I can say from a public health perspective is that we certainly support an approach that takes a public health approach to addictions as a public health challenge and not as a criminal o