House of Commons - May 6, 2008
Hon. Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, Lib.):
"Mr. Speaker, in July 2006 the Minister of International Trade said he supported Vancouver's safe injection site and promised to lobby the Minister of Health to expand the program.
Obviously impressed by the research, the minister said:
--I intend to be an advocate within the federal government, once I have completed my due diligence on the research.
It has been two years. Is the minister defending Insite at the cabinet table or has he obediently succumbed to the Prime Minister's muzzle, like most of his other colleagues?
Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC):
"Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue. Last week the government announced $111 million for treatment and prevention services because we believe that no individual in Canada should be denied the opportunity to get out of an addiction and to get off the terrible spiral that these drugs cause.
That is our commitment to the people of Canada. If the hon. member cannot get off her high horse and recognize that, then shame on her.
Hon. Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, Lib.):
"Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has always been ideologically opposed to the harm reduction provided at Insite, and the health minister continues to call for more research.
Meanwhile, 22 international researchers have validated the Insite results. So has the premier of British Columbia. So has the mayor of Vancouver. So has the Vancouver police department. Why will the Prime Minister not do so?
Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC):
"Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the expert advisory committee has reported. It is public information. It is available at HealthCanada.ca.
I invite Canadians to read it for themselves. They will see that the research is indeed mixed on this issue and that there are certain issues that have not been resolved by injections at Insite. There are other things that the site does particularly well. These are all things that will be taken into account in due course.
