KENNEY AND UCP DON'T
Erin O'Toole says he backs safe injection sites, but recovery is key to opioid crisis
The Canadian Press - Aug 22, 2021
Photo: The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole speaks to the media as he makes an announcement on help for people living with disabilities, in Edmonton, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. Canadians will vote in a federal election Sept. 20th. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole announced Sunday he will approach Canada's opioid epidemic as an "urgent health crisis" rather than a criminal scourge, and that he would continue to allow safe injection sites.
At an addiction treatment centre in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster, B.C., O'Toole said he would invest $325 million over the next three years to create 1,000 residential drug treatment beds and build 50 recovery centres across the country.
"We feel with respect to opioids, people with addiction should not be the focus of the criminal justice system," O'Toole told reporters Sunday.
"People that are dealing, and that are preying on people with addiction, should be the focus. We'd like to see more compassion, more treatment options."
However, he stopped short of saying he'd push for the decriminalization of opioids or other drugs.
"I would like to see compassion at the center of our justice system for people with addiction," O'Toole said when pressed on the issue.
Law enforcement should focus on traffickers, O'Toole said, adding he plans to enhance treatment and prevention services in First Nations communities and partner with the provinces to provide free Naloxone kits which reverse overdoses.
Garth Mullins, a representative of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), says the approach marks an improvement from former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s tough-on-crime stance, but that a focus on recovery and abstinence is “misplaced” as it misidentifies the crux of the crisis.
Health Canada is currently working with Vancouver on the city’s request for exemption from criminal provisions on simple possession of small quantities of drugs.
Vancouver has been the epicentre of an opioid crisis that saw British Columbia record 1,176 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2020 — the highest ever in a single year — and more than 7,000 deaths since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016.
Treat drug addiction as health, not criminal issue, O'Toole says in plan to tackle opioid crisis
Conservatives promise millions to build recovery centres and treatment beds
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole offered on Sunday a "compassionate" plan to tackle the opioid crisis, treating it as a national emergency to help those battling drug addiction.
During a campaign stop at an addictions rehabilitation centre in New Westminster, B.C., O'Toole said 17 Canadians' deaths each day are related to opioids – and that the health crisis has deepened during the pandemic.
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"As prime minister, I will treat the opioid epidemic as the health crisis that it is," he said.
"That means that our focus should be on helping people with addictions get the help they need to recover."
The promises, part of the party's election platform book, include $325 million over three years to create 1,000 new treatment beds and build 50 recovery centres in communities across the country.
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The plan also commits to enhancing culturally appropriate treatment and prevention services in high-needs First Nations communities, and to provide $1 billion over five years in additional funding for Indigenous mental health and drug treatment programs.
Asked by reporters whether he supports the decriminalization of drugs, O'Toole said he advocates judicial discretion for treatment options rather than criminal sanctions.
Help, don't punish: O'Toole
"I don't think someone with an addiction should be punished. I think they should be helped," he said.
Law enforcement should focus on dealers and traffickers, not on those suffering from an addiction, O'Toole added.
The Conservative leader said his party would not block safe injection sites and would work on treatment and recovery programs alongside harm reduction options.
Watch / Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole on plan to tackle opioid crisis:
But Liberal Party spokesperson Alex Wellstead said the Conservatives' record has been one of banning safe consumption sites and fighting them in court.
"The Conservatives' record is one of punishing Canadians battling addiction," he said in a statement.
"We will continue to support people facing addiction and provide safe and supervised alternatives. We believe in an approach informed by public health experts – not ideology."
O'Toole's predecessor, Andrew Scheer, had criticized the Liberal government's approach to the opioid crisis, calling it "terrible."
About 40 new safe injection sites, where people can inject intravenous drugs with clean needles, have opened across the country since the Liberals formed the government in 2015.
'Absolutely tragic epidemic': Julian
NDP candidate Peter Julian, a long-time MP for the New Westminster–Burnaby riding, said politicians must guarantee safe supply to people with addictions and must also look into the role of large pharmaceutical companies in the crisis.
"This is an absolutely tragic epidemic — 17 Canadians every day. And I don't think either Mr. Trudeau or Mr. O'Toole understand the magnitude of this tragedy and are willing to take on big pharma in order to combat it," he said.
Some advocacy groups have called on the federal government to create an action plan that includes the decriminalization and the legal regulation of drugs, as well as new initiatives to end stigma around addiction.
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