Keynote Speakers
Health PEI
Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC
Bridging National Policies and Local Realities: Can we Coordinate for the Future?
In a high-level examination of Canada’s current position on substance use and addiction, distinguished policy expert Rebecca Jesseman will explore how national structure and policy trends intersect with local realities. She will synthesize the national context, touching on system structure related to mental health and substance use, emerging trends in policy and regulation, patterns of use and service delivery challenges. She will also look to the future, as the rapid changes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic make the status quo increasingly untenable.
Rebecca Jesseman
Health PEI
Rebecca Jesseman is the Director of Program Planning and Operations, Mental Health and Addictions, with Health PEI. She is also an Associate with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, where she previously spent over 15 years providing national and international policy analysis and advice and contributing to research in areas including treatment system development, cannabis regulation, and substance use and the criminal justice system.
What’s Next with the Opioid Crisis? Emerging from the Fog of the War on People Who Use Drugs
Benjamin Perrin
Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC
Benjamin Perrin is a law professor at the University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law, specializing in criminal law and criminal justice. He is author of the national bestselling book Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada’s Opioid Crisis. He has served as lead criminal justice advisor and in-house legal counsel to the Prime Minister of Canada and a former law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada.
