Update - Paper Petition to the Government of Canada
Please consider helping by doing a petition!
In November of 2019, Moms Stop The Harm members launched a petition urging the Government of Canada to take action on the drug poisoning and overdose crisis.
This was all during the time of COVID lock downs, but our members took heed and completed petitions and sent them to their MPs who then presented them in the House of Commons, thereby sending our urgent message to the federal government!
You can find out more information here on how you can help us continue this important work by reading more below.
Fast forward to today, and the urgency of the overdose death and injury crisis is nowhere near the top of the agenda, where it should be. We have lost over 30,000 Canadians to this crisis since 2016 and the numbers show no sign of decreasing any time soon. Month after month, loved ones are perishing while our health care system is in shambles and health care and addiction provider services are left in tatters, unable to support their clients.
IT IS TIME FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO DO MORE!
Moms Stop The Harm would like to revive our petition urging the Government of Canada to take action and to do things differently.
Specifically, our petition asks the Government of Canada:
To declare the overdose crisis a national public health emergency and:
Immediately collaborate with provinces and territories to develop a comprehensive, pan-Canadian overdose action plan.
Ensure that any plan considers reforms that other countries have used, such as legal regulation of drugs to ensure safe supply, decriminalization for personal use, and changes to flawed drug policy and policing.
Ensure this emergency is taken seriously with adequately funded programming and supports.
Petitions are a good way to show we have support. Government representatives will not be able to help but notice when our petition is read in the House of Commons day after day. MPs will be forced, in a small way, to bear witness to the overdose crisis and will hopefully respond with new and improved measures. We also hope the petition will nudge MPs to take informed positions on drug policy issues in other forums.
While paper petitions may seem old school, they have some advantages over parliamentary online petitions. Online petitions can only be signed for a short period of time and are presented by one MP. Paper petitions can be presented by many MPs and signed until there is an election.
How you can help:
Step one: Download and print the Petition. Please get family, friends and allies to sign our petition. You’ll need a minimum of 25 signatures (Note: A couple of extra signatures always helps in case someone has not properly completed the petition).
Step two: Send the signed MSTH petition(s), along with a Covering Letter, to your MP, or another MP if you prefer. Copy, paste and customize the letter. You can get your MP’s contact information by calling 1-800-463-6868 or going to https://www.ourcommons.ca/en. Remember a) mail to MPs is postage free and b) MPs are there to help you with matters like this. It’s their job!
Step three: Call your MP in a couple of weeks if you haven’t heard anything and ask if she or he will be presenting your petition in the House of Commons. What is said in the House of Commons is documented in the Hansard Index, which will allow us to track the progress of our petitions. Please let us know if your MP is reluctant to do so, as we can help you find an MP who supports our cause. You can reach us at info@momsstoptheharm.com.
We have also added a video link here and included the video to provide you with additional information on gathering signatures and submitting the paper petition.
MSTH greatly appreciates your help with the petitions so that we can bring the overdose crisis closer to the forefront of the government’s agenda, where it belongs.