“My community has a serious drug crisis. People trying to recover cannot do it while living next to drugs. I want the federal government to spend housing money on sober housing in Nanaimo.”

“Madam Speaker, in Nanaimo—Ladysmith, the addictions crisis is not an abstract policy debate. It is on our streets, in our parks, in our shelters and in the lives of families who are praying their loved one gets one more chance. Too many people are trying to get clean while living next door to the very thing they are fighting to escape. That is not compassion. That is setting people up to fail. Nanaimo needs every kind of housing, including sober housing. We need safe, stable places for people who have chosen recovery, people who want to rebuild their lives without being surrounded by drugs. This Monday, June 8, Nanaimo city council is convening a special governance and priorities committee meeting to discuss the urgent need for sober housing in our community. I am pleading with the government to pay attention and to allocate a share of federal housing funds for sober housing in Nanaimo because recovery needs more than hope. It needs a home.”