Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm just hoping the Minister can tell me what is lapsing.

I note as we go through department by department, lapsed money doesn't really show up so I can't ask what's lapsing there individually. You know, it kind of just disappears. If we could have a breakdown of what's lapsing, thank you.

Yes, thank you. Well, I guess I wonder, then, is any of that lapse, a department has just simply not applied for a carryover and then they didn't get it, or, you know, is there a capacity issue, it's actually reapplying for the money to be carried over, or are they just actually not don't have contracts in place or significant progress, I guess, on those? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Okay, I have a different number of what the total lapsed is. And so perhaps I can just get someone to help me understand why you can come to different numbers of what the lapsed funding is and perhaps a bit of an explanation of carryover funding. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I guess I do expect to hear more, because my understanding is our electronic medical records system is going to cost us more than $10 million, and we're already spending $10 million here. So I guess what am I looking for? Well, I guess a commitment, perhaps, to come back when or if we have an estimate of what the total of a new electronic medical records system is going to cost us. Thank you.

In favour.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see $10 million for priority health information system improvements. 100 percent federal money, which is great. Can I just get an explanation of what that is?

For.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am well aware that alcohol is of a primary concern and issue to our substance abuse issues. But I think absent action now, we will find ourselves in a similar situation to the Yukon in the years to come. We have seen increasing drug use and many people on the front lines speak to that regularly.

But my question for the Minister of Health is BC in granting this or in receiving this application, the federal Minister of Health said this is really a template for how to respond to substance abuse issues. So I'm wondering if the Minister of Health will commit to looking at...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have asked these questions of Justice before. Today I directed them to Health because the decision ultimately made was by the BC public health asking for an exemption to the federal Minister of Health.

And so my question for our Minister of Health is does she agree with the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, 60 percent of the Canadian public, the overwhelming amount of public health officials, the federal Minister of Health, the BC Minister of Health, and really anyone who has worked on the front lines, that decriminalization is a step that saves lives and...

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to substance abuse, two principles must inform our decision. That is evidencebased decision making and harm reduction. If these are the driving principles, Mr. Speaker, we will ultimately lower the number of people addicted to drugs and alcohol in this territory.

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Health spoke today in her statement, I truly believe that she believes these principles are essential to informing our decisions. However, Mr. Speaker, if we believe this, that substance abuse is a health issue, we must remove the criminal law from the picture.

Yesterday, the...