Early in the term, Nate submitted a resolution to caucus for a public health approach to address the opioid crisis that continues to kill thousands of Canadians.

The government acted on the resolution by investing $231 million to address the opioid crisis through a public health approach in Budget 2018, including $150 million to expand treatment options.

To ensure more people access treatment, Nate introduced a bill to remove the criminal sanction for low-level possession. When Portugal removed the same sanction, they saw a 60% increase in people seeking treatment.

Locally, Nate held a public drug policy forum with the help of our local youth council.

Accomplishments:
-Restored harm reduction as a key pillar of the Canadian Drug Strategy -Committed over $350 million toward a comprehensive public health emergency response to the crisis -Streamlined the establishment of additional supervised consumption sites that have been proven to save lives according to the Supreme Court of Canada -Supported prevention through new guidelines for prescription opioids and restrictions on the marketing of opioids -Budget 2019 proposed additional $30 million to expand access to a safe supply of prescription opioids and better access to opioid overdose responses like Naloxone