Mr. Speaker, thank you, and to my hon. colleague from Courtenay—Alberni who just preceded me.
I am rising, and having travelled through my communities in Saanich—Gulf Islands, I have the great honour to represent the wonderful community of Pender Island and to present this petition while thinking of my friend and constituent Leslie McBain, one of the founders of Moms Stop the Harm.
Petitioners from my community are asking that we recognize the overdose crisis as a public health emergency. The number of individuals who have died in opioid-related deaths is now up to over 15,000. We are dealing with a poisoning crisis because of fentanyl contamination in the drug supply.
Petitioners ask that the current Parliament declare that the opioid crisis is a public health emergency; that we reframe this crisis as a health issue rather than a criminal issue; that we take a comprehensive wraparound approach to this crisis, addressing issues of addiction, poverty, housing, health care, racism and the economic disparities and instabilities and precarious situations that drive people into a situation where their lives are at risk; and that we do something about it.
Petitioners ask that the House work on the recommendations made by frontline workers, health care community experts and those directly involved in the drug-using community to decriminalize drugs in Canada.