After meeting with first responders, community organizations and people struggling with opioid addictions in the Downtown East Side on Friday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a message for all Canadians: this is not just Vancouver’s problem.

“This is a crisis that seems for most Canadians to seem very far away, something that’s limited to rough parts of town,” he said at a press conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre. “It’s really important for all Canadians to consider that this is something we cannot continue to ignore, we cannot continue to stigmatize. We need to start addressing this as the real societal health problem it actually is."

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No media was present when Trudeau joined a roundtable discussion about what he described as “nothing short of an absolute tragedy” earlier that morning. He and minister of national defence Harjit Saijan, a former Vancouver Police Department officer, also did a ride-along with the police in the DTES.

PM Trudeau and Minister Sajjan discuss ways to fight the opioid crisis with first responders and health care professionals in Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/0ftqsZEFxu — CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) March 3, 2017

Trudeau said it was “an incredibly emotional opportunity” to hear the stories of the “amazing” first responders who are suffering from mental strain and exhaustion as they cope with the hundreds of daily overdoses. He was also moved by the stories of other community professionals and people people with addiction “struggling with an almost insurmountable challenge.”

“We need to come together as a country to help our most vulnerable and recognize the challenges facing, day in day out, drug users, people with addictions and those with mental health issues,” Trudeau said

He’d talked with Premier Christy Clark about “the path forward” the previous evening when he was on Vancouver Island.

He wouldn’t commit to additional funding over the $10 million in urgent funding his government recently announced on top of the existing $65 million over five years.

Long-term solutions are also needed such as providing more housing and putting tougher constraints on packages less than 30 grams crossing the border.

Source: Dan Toulgoet

“There are no barriers to the federal government being able to do exactly what it needs to do,” Trudeau said, later adding “we will ensure that there are the resources available.”

Trudeau was also asked questions on issues including immigration, NAFTA and legalizing marijuana.