Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Undoubtedly, I have no issue whatsoever in supporting this particular motion.
We must seize upon every single opportunity to help solve this problem. This is not the panacea for this issue, but yet it is moving the file forward. Enforcement of liquor laws is a necessity. We cannot miss any opportunity to do this. We must not get distracted by the fact that, yes, this is a new adventure that we must be heading into, but we must see it as truly an opportunity to do something for this particular problem.
Abuse of alcohol certainly has been well stated, well written and will continue to be well argued about in this Chamber for many years to come, but by doing nothing works to solve this problem by ignoring this opportunity. So I would say that if we can find ways to further help inspections, to help decrease some of the problems, to help work in partnership with our RCMP partners, this is the right way to go.
It’s been mentioned many times over the years, as well, and I’ve witnessed it myself when I used to work at the correctional centre many years ago, three-quarters of the people that were incarcerated all were there for some reason connected to some type of substance abuse. Although we’re not here to debate addiction problems, what it does is further emphasize that people who are trapped in these terrible cycles of addiction, such as things like alcohol, need to be addressed. This doesn’t necessarily address, again, the addictions issue, but continues to underscore about these problems being allowed to get out of hand.
What the innovation of this motion really speaks to is opening the doors to help solve the problem. This would be a missed opportunity if the government doesn’t seize the message in this motion. As such, again, I will be supporting it. Thank you.