Science and Research committee  I think Michael Pollan has synthesized a lot of what people have been saying for a number of years and has put a mainstream gloss on it, which has further damaged or muted the contributions of indigenous people for centuries. He's put a veneer on it that has made it splash into the mainstream, but he does a disservice to the many people who have been working in this field for a long time across a variety of different cultures and backgrounds around the globe.

Science and Research committee  My work with indigenous communities—albeit limited, as I am a settler myself—suggests to me that we have to ask different questions. We have to let other people lead. We have to take cues in other ways. The question about psychedelics, for example, is an instructive one. Asking about psychedelics doesn't actually get to priority questions within the indigenous communities that I've worked in.

Science and Research committee  I don't know that we need to re-examine the entire scientific process, but I think there are aspects that warrant a revisiting. Take, for example, randomized controlled trials. When we think about that in the context of psychedelics, they are measuring a very specific pharmacological action.

Science and Research committee  I think this is also very difficult. Right now, knowledge for me as a professor counts when I publish things in peer-reviewed literature. Beliefs don't necessarily get me points on my CV. I think sometimes the systematic ways of giving credit or cultural value to knowledge and belief....

Science and Research committee  That's a very difficult question. I think there are two things. One is the funding bodies that give priority to and sometimes create particular kinds of steps in the definitions of how we identify science and how it's funded and, therefore, some of the projects that can go forward.

Science and Research committee  I don't know of any offhand. I have been working closely with current and past leaders of the Native American Church. Mostly, they work with peyote and not psilocybin, but there have been no reported abuses in that specific transaction. Of course, as our other witness Lindsay mentioned, there are all sorts of other issues going on.

Science and Research committee  I am a historian looking at this from 10,000 feet, so Monnica will have a more close-up impression. As I understand, the special access program has been increasingly used under the subsection 56(1) exemptions in the last couple of years. This puts more pressure on psychiatrists to act as the gatekeepers in order to access psychedelics.

Science and Research committee  To be honest, I feel that Monnica Williams is better positioned to answer this question. However, briefly, over the last 12 years, the evidence on psilocybin applications for therapeutic use has really blossomed. There is a growing number of papers and an enormous amount of evidence now suggesting that psilocybin is performing well in clinic trials.

Science and Research committee  Thank you very much. Dear honourable members, my name, as mentioned, is Erika Dyck. I am a historian and a Canada research chair in the history of health and social justice at the University of Saskatchewan. I have been studying the history of psychedelics for over 20 years. My research has been published in a number of scholarly books, articles, documentaries and podcasts.