Bill Granting Amnesty for Reporting Drug Overdoses Set to Clear Next Hurdle

A private member’s bill granting amnesty to those who call authorities to report a drug overdose is poised to pass third reading Wednesday, as members across all parties voiced support for the act Friday.

Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam Liberal MP Ron McKinnon spearheaded the Good Samaritan Overdose Act earlier this year, contending that fear of arrest for drug possession prevents people from calling for an ambulance when it’s needed.

“This bill will help reduce the barriers to people calling 911; it will help reduce the time, the delays that some people experience getting help,” McKinnon said on Friday afternoon. “In a situation like this, seconds mean life and death.”

The bill includes amnesty for possession of drugs, not trafficking or impaired driving.

McKinnon has said the bill would “enable life” by removing barriers to people calling for help, including the lives of recreational drug users.

British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall supports the bill, and said in April that young people’s fears of their parents finding out or getting into trouble with the law can stop them from getting help when a friend has overdosed.

In B.C., a surge in fentanyl-laced drugs has led to an increase in overdose deaths, with 61 per cent of the 555 deaths attributed to the drug by the end of August 2016, according to the province’s Coroners Service.

In 2015, there were 465 overdose deaths in B.C. total. In Alberta this year, 338 people have died after overdosing.

Near McKinnon’s own riding in Metro Vancouver, a 16-year-old girl recently died in a Starbucks washroom from a drug overdose.

He called the loss of life across the country “catastrophic.”

“It’s a very important bill,” McKinnon said, becoming emotional. “It’s an opportunity to do something important.”

McKinnon said the bill wouldn’t be able to save everyone, but that it will at least save some people.

If it passes a third vote, the legislation will move on to the Senate.

*Story correction: A previous version of this story indicated that McKinnon’s bill had passed a third reading in the House of Commons. In fact, that vote is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 2. The Tyee regrets the error.