Ottawa, Ontario
November 17, 2008
Check against delivery
Thank you, Justice Barnes, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I am very pleased to have been invited to speak to you today and to continue my work as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to commend your organization for the work you do for communities across Canada.
You help combat the damage that drug-related crime can do – the kind of damage that undermines healthy families and safe communities.
At the same time, you help those who commit drug-related crimes get the help they need to overcome the addiction that motivates their unlawful behaviour.
It is fitting that your conference begins during National Addictions Awareness Week.
The work you do every day raises awareness of drug addiction and the damage that illicit drugs can inflict, and brings community members together to reach towards the goal of consigning drug abuse to the history books.
Over these next few days, you will find excellent opportunities to learn from guest speakers who are experts in making Drug Treatment Courts work both here in Canada and around the world – thus putting into practice your theme "Moving Towards the Centre of Excellence."
At the same time, you will learn from each other and celebrate your successes in making Canada's communities safer by providing treatment to those addicted to illicit drugs.
And this initiative has indeed been successful.
It was ten years ago this year that my Department, along with Health Canada, developed the Drug Treatment Court program – an innovative way to help those who commit crimes to support their addictions, while still holding these offenders accountable for their actions.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize him for his continuing work in this successful system.
From that first court in Toronto in 1998, the concept has expanded to six cities across this country.
The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring Drug Treatment Courts continue to succeed.
Last February, we announced funding to provide transitional housing facilities and supportive services for participants in the Toronto court.
Today, on behalf of my colleagues, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, I am pleased to announce that we have provided funding for a similar program in Vancouver.
With this funding – valued at $200,000 over two years – participants in Vancouver's Drug Treatment Court will have access to the physical shelter they need to overcome their addiction and become successful graduates of the court's programs.
We appreciate that housing is only one part of the solution but we can agree it is a vital part.
You will recognize, as I do, that funding in this amount in no way no way solves the problem of shelter for those addicted to drugs.
Nor is it meant to.
It represents movement towards the meeting of a need that we, as a government, recognize.
We predict that access to housing will result in a program that is even more successful – inasmuch as it helps provide refuge to those participants who otherwise may be trying to overcome their addictions while living on the streets.
These housing pilot projects in Toronto and Vancouver also serve to highlight the benefit of partnerships.
We are not only working with federal partners, like Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, but we are also partnering with provincial governments and non-government organizations, including the John Howard Society and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
It is always beneficial when a diversity of interests can come together under a common goal.
Providing housing along with treatment also fits very well with the Court's comprehensive approach to dealing with crimes motivated by drug addiction.
The participants get the support and treatment they need, but they must also be supervised by the courts and be tested for drugs frequently.
So it is certainly not simply an easy way out of jail. The offenders must still take responsibility for their crimes.
Our approach is meant to be tough on the producers and distributors of illicit drugs, but compassionate toward those victimized by their addition to drugs.
And Drug Treatment Courts are an example of how these two approaches can work together to provide treatment to addicts while ensuring the safety of the community.
We all know how dangerous and destructive illicit drugs can be.
That is why our Government has put in place our National Anti-Drug Strategy to fight illicit drug use in Canada.
The National Anti-Drug Strategy includes three action plans: preventing illicit drug use; treating those with illicit drug dependencies; and combating the production and distribution of illicit drugs.
Through this strategy, we have been able to provide funding for numerous programs that target drug addiction among our young people.
You will actually have an opportunity during this conference to hear about two programs that the Government of Canada has funded.
These are:
- The innovative work of the Partners in Process Equine Learning Centre in Owen Sound, Ontario, that will use a combination of interaction with horses, and more traditional sessions with trained counsellors, to help youth learn about trust and taking responsibility for their own actions; and
- The Strong Heart Teaching Lodge in Winnipeg that is delivering a drug treatment intervention program aimed at Aboriginal youth that will provide culturally-relevant and evidence-based interventions to target illicit drug use and the related problem of gang involvement.
Preventing and treating illicit drug use is just one side of the equation, however.
Our strategy is also tough on the producers and distributors of illicit drugs.
In the last Parliament, our Government proposed legislative reforms that target serious drug offenders who are profiting from their crimes.
The former Bill C-26 proposed mandatory jail time for serious drug offences that involved organized crime, violence, or youth.
However, this legislation would have exempted an offender from receiving the mandatory term, in certain circumstances, if he or she successfully completed a program approved by a Drug Treatment Court.
Our approach sent a clear message to potential offenders: grow-ops, drug labs, selling drugs to youth or trafficking near schools will not be tolerated. It also sent a clear message that we will help those who need it most.
We remain fully committed to the goals of making our communities safer by getting tough on the producers and distributors of illicit drugs; the very people who prey on our youth.
The National Anti-Drug Strategy – and Drug Treatment Courts in particular – are fine examples of how these two approaches reinforce one another.
In conclusion, we will continue to work with our partners – like the Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Courts – in collaborative efforts to help reduce the negative effects of drugs in Canadian communities.
For any government, there is no greater duty than the protection of its citizens.
The Government of Canada is determined to take action against illicit drugs through the National Anti-Drug Strategy.
And we will remain committed to your organization as it continues to provide treatment to those struggling with addiction, while ensuring community safety.
I wish you a successful and productive conference.
Thank you.
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