Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Issue No. 27 - Fourteenth Report of the Committee

Thursday, April 13, 2017

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its

FOURTEENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, has, in obedience to the order of reference of March 9, 2017, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1. Clause 42, page 44:

(a) Replace, in line 31, the words "not to exceed'' with the words "not less than 45 days or more than''.

(b) add after line 36 the following:

"56.2 (1) The Minister may establish, for each supervised consumption site, a citizen advisory committee charged with advising those in charge of the site on matters relating to its operation and public concern about the presence of the site in their community, including with respect to public health and safety.

(2) The committee shall consist of 5 to 10 volunteers who live in the immediate vicinity of the site.

(3) The committee shall provide the Minister with a written report on its activities each year, no later than sixty days after the anniversary of the date on which it was established.

56.3 (1) A person who is responsible for the direct supervision, at a supervised consumption site, of the consumption of controlled substances, shall offer a person using the site alternative pharmaceutical therapy before that person consumes a controlled substance that is obtained in a manner not authorized under this Act.

(2) The failure to offer alternative pharmaceutical therapy in subsection (1) does not constitute an offence under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.''

Respectfully submitted,

BOB RUNCIMAN

Chair