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 federal government announced that in British Columbia, starting in 2023, small possession of illegal drugs will be decriminalized. BC's Minister of Health, Sheila Malcolmson, in making this decision, said, "Stigma and secrecy about substance use kills." She said, "Shame and fear keep people from accessing the care that they need and fear of criminalization has led many people to hide their addiction and drug use and ultimately using alone means dying alone."
BC's public health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said, "That criminal risk of being labeled a criminal, losing your job, not being able to get an apartment, not being able to travel, things like losing your children, it keeps people from talking to their family and friends about drug use. And that keeps people from accessing services."
The federal Minister of Health said, "BC was the template for other jurisdictions." She will soon rule on whether Toronto gets a similar exemption as they have asked.
Mr. Speaker, we have a template to follow. It must be recognized that decriminalization is not a silver bullet. And Mr. Speaker, in BC, in getting this application, had to educate their police on how to properly work with addicts. It had to set out a number of reporting measures and make sure this information is tracked, very similar information that our auditor general has recently asked us to do. It had to sure there was safe supply in place, naloxone in place, and had to increase the number of social workers and treatment available to users. It is not an easy process but BC has led the way in truly making sure we tackle the substance abuse issues in this country.
I know many people feel uncomfortable with the idea. They view it as sanctioning behaviour they feel is immoral. They view it as lawlessness that will lead to harm. But that is simply not true, Mr. Speaker. And if we're going to truly help those who are addicted, we must do what actually works and follow the evidence.
I'll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
