British Columbia’s ongoing attempts to handle its drug crisis have been an “abject failure,” says federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who adds that the province’s decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use have made the problem worse.
“Decriminalization has been in place in B.C. now since about 2017 in reality,” Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa on Feb. 1. “The results are in. The debate is over. It has been a disaster, an absolute abject failure.”
“You not only need to take a walk down the streets of East Vancouver where addicts lay face-first on the pavement, where people are living permanently in tents and encampments, but you just need to look at the data.”
Poilievre said there has been a 300 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in B.C. since the Liberal government first took power back in 2015.
“The Trudeau-NDP approach is on open display in Vancouver,” he said. “It is a complete disaster. It is hell on earth.”
“We’re going to reverse that policy. And we’re going to replace it with recovery and treatment. That’s what works.”
Decriminalization
Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett spoke positively about B.C.’s decriminalization plan during a news conference in Vancouver on Jan. 30, saying that it will reduce “the stigma, the fear, and shame that keep people who use drugs silent about their use, or using alone.”“Supervised consumption sites, which prioritize the dignity and safety of people who use drugs, have saved lives and guided many Canadians towards treatment,” she said.
Bennett added that the decriminalization policy “is not legalization,” noting that “all activities with illegal drugs, including production, trafficking, import, and export remain illegal, even if conducted with the drugs listed in the exemption in amounts under the 2.5 grams threshold.”
