Liberal MP Hanley calls for supporting NDP MP Johns' C-216, say it should be considered to address toxic drug crisis

OLD CROW, YUKON—I spent the May long weekend in Old Crow, Yukon’s most remote and northerly community, celebrating Caribou Days which has returned after a two-year hiatus. The celebrations were joyful but tentative, muted with lingering pandemic caution and grief over a hard two years. The weekend’s festival was dedicated to the loss of a much-loved young citizen of the Vuntut Gwichin First Nation, Myranda Charlie, who succumbed to an opioid overdose earlier in the year. Twenty-four people died from toxic drugs in the Yukon in 2021, and 12 more have been lost this year to date; seven within a three-week period in early January. In our small population, those numbers not only represent one of the highest deaths rates in the country. It means that each of us in the territory is connected in some way—by family, by work or by community—to this tragedy. People who are dying every day, usually alone, are our children, our siblings, our parents. They are executives, civil servants, athletes, school kids. They are of any income strata, and any background, although disproportionately of Indigenous or racialized minorities. At the current rate, 2022 could see a further 4,000 Canadians dead by June. Is this really a statistic in which we wish to be leading the world? As a physician, my guiding principle has always been to help people in need and to abide by the maxim: first, do no harm. I carry this commitment to my role as a parliamentarian. And this is why I am speaking out in support of Bill C-216, introduced by NDP MP Gord Johns. This bill proposes to address the toxic drug crisis based on recommendations from Health Canada’s Task Force on Substance Use issued in 2021. This government has responded to the opioid crisis through crucial investments in harm reduction, facilitating supervised consumption sites, providing access to naloxone for overdose first aid, support for clinical treatment and mental health services. The work with British Columbia, Toronto Public Health, and other entities in applying for Sec. 56 exemptions is also crucial, ongoing work. But these efforts are not keeping pace with the need. We must do more. Bill C-216, An Amend the Controlled Drug and Substances Act and to enact the Expungement of Certain Drug-related Convictions Act and the National Strategy on Substance Use Act, provides a timely opportunity to amplify and accelerate federal action. Bill C-216 has three parts. Part one involves a national approach toward decriminalization of illicit drug possession. Part two seeks to improve the lives of people unfairly burdened with possession related drug charges by expunging records. Part three recommends development of a National Drug Strategy within one year. It is part one of this bill that evokes the most controversy. Under a regime of decriminalization, trafficking in drugs, dealing, and manufacturing will still have criminal penalties. Simple possession will instead require non-criminal penalties such as fines, warnings and interventions treated through health-care mechanisms. Public health experts have long called for fundamentally changing our approach to the criminal justice approach to drug use and police forces agree. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police noted in 2020 that “evidence from around the world suggests our current criminal justice approach to substance use could be enhanced using health-care diversion approaches proven to be effective.” Canada would not be the first jurisdiction to decriminalize simple possession. Portugal pursued decriminalization in the early 2000s. In Portugal, illegal drugs are still confiscated and possessions still result in penalties like fines, community service or recommended intervention. However, penalties for simple possession are redirected from the criminal justice system to district level panels made up of legal, health, and social work professionals to determine the best course forward for the individuals. There are 30 countries around the world which have adopted aspects of decriminalization, including Australia, Chile, and Portugal. Subnational jurisdictions have also pursued this course. The experiences of each case offers opportunities for Canada to learn from their experiences and to craft a solution that works for Canada. Will Canada’s approach look like Portugal’s? Probably not. But we can be sure that our current approach of criminalizing victims is hurting the wrong people and leading to more deaths. Wary of arrest, hidden by stigma, or already trapped in a criminalizing system, people in the Yukon and in every corner of Canada, are dying afraid and alone. We must consider alternatives like those proposed in C-216. Before pursuing decriminalization, Portugal had an opioid death rate close to the EU average, whereas now it has the lowest in the EU. Before the reforms, when Portugal had strict drugs laws to combat the war on drugs, as we currently do, 70 per cent of Portugal’s prison population was held on drug offences, compared to 14 per cent today. Moreover, since pursuing this course the social cost of drug use has fallen by 18 per cent due to the reduction in drug related deaths, the costs associated with criminal proceedings for drug offences, and the lost income for those imprisoned for those offences. Opponents to decriminalization argue that this would lead to a rise in organized crime. There is no evidence to support this case. We already know that organized crime is entrenched in drug trafficking, nourished by a demand that is unmet through legal means. Organized crime has in fact increased during the opioid epidemic, as more than 2,600 organized crime groups continue to contribute to the increasing number of opioid deaths in Canada, leading to increased violence and putting communities and bystanders at risk. A number of studies have suggested that decriminalization may actually reduce other crimes, as police resources can be more efficiently deployed to address organized crime as opposed to minor drug users. Decriminalization is not a single strategy. Indeed, it must be part of broader health-care reforms and additional supports for community capacity and resources (including police resources) to provide for effective responses to focus on safe supply, harm reduction, social supports, and treatment. This comprehensive approach is what C-216 is proposing. Bill C-216 may have flaws, but the role of Parliament is to study proposed legislation, listen to relevant testimony, and propose changes to improve it. The vote on whether to send C-216 to committee will be happening on June 1. Sending a bill to committee does not mean it will become law. It simply means we need to hear expert testimony on this bill, consider ways to make it better, and determine if that testimony and those changes are sufficient to allow parliamentarians to support the final version and send it to the Senate for consideration. Private Member’s Bill C-216 deserves to get to committee. An urgent national conversation about the toxic drug crisis means that we are doing everything we can to save Canadians’ lives. The families of Myranda Charlie and countless other Canadians lost to toxic drugs know what is needed. They are watching us in their grief. Liberal MP Brendan Hanley represents the Yukon. Before entering politics, he served as chief medical officer of health for the Yukon for more than 12 years and has been a northern physician working across Canada for more than 25 years. The Hill Times

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Liberal MP Hanley calls for supporting NDP MP Johns’ C-216, say it should be considered to address toxic drug crisis

An urgent national conversation about the toxic drug crisis means that we are doing everything we can to save Canadians’ lives.

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