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OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has to stop foot-dragging on the opioid overdose crisis and immediately enact emergency powers to reduce the death toll, opposition MPs said Tuesday.

B.C. New Democrat health critic Don Davies made the call in a blistering speech in the House of Commons during debate on Bill C-37, the Liberal government’s legislative response to the crisis.

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The bill would, among other things, remove barriers in a law passed by the Conservatives in 2015 that critics said made it difficult to open supervised opioid-consumption sites in Canada.

It would also give the Canada Border Services Agency more powers to inspect suspicious mail and allow Ottawa to limit the importation of devices such as pill presses.

The visibly angry Vancouver Kingsway MP said the Liberals, who in opposition criticized the 2015 Tory law on injection sites, waited far too long before finally tabling C-37 in December in order to remove those barriers.