BC Conservatives Pledge Crackdown on Public Drug Use, Consumption Sites

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks during a news conference in Richmond, B.C., on July 30, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The Conservative Party of BC is pledging to close down the province’s supervised consumption sites and introduce a “zero-tolerance” policy for public drug use.

Conservative Leader John Rustad made the announcement in a Sept. 27 release that referenced a video circulating online of a mother and her children at a Port Alberni Dairy Queen while a man smokes a crack pipe outside. The man can be seen through the window of the restaurant, a few feet away from where the three children sit eating ice cream.

“Children can’t even eat ice cream without being exposed to the horrors of open drug use,” Rustad said in the release. “Drug dens, free drugs, and crack pipe dispensaries have turned our streets into dangerous zones where families no longer feel safe.”

Rustad said the Conservative Party would target drug activity by shutting down “all government-sanctioned drug dens,” in reference to supervised consumption sites, which the party described as “hotbeds” for crime.

Another element of the policy would see an increased police presence in B.C. communities struggling with crime and public substance use. It would also include a “zero-tolerance policy for public drug use.”

BC NDP candidate Mike Farnworth reacted to the Port Alberni video in a social media post, saying the images were “disturbing.”

“Public drug use is illegal in all public spaces, including outside businesses, on sidewalks, and at bus stops. Police have the tools to move people along and seize drugs to stop this activity, to keep our streets safe for everyone,” he wrote on platform X on Sept. 26.

NDP Leader David Eby said Sept. 15 the province would respond to rising addiction-related challenges by opening secure facilities that would provide involuntary care for those with severe addictions or who are mentally ill.

The first secure housing and care facility will be opened in Maple Ridge on the Alouette Correctional Centre grounds in the coming months, the government said. A second centre will be open at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre. Other sites are also being considered in northern B.C., the Interior, Vancouver Island, and the Lower Mainland.

“People with addiction challenges, brain injuries, and mental health issues need compassionate care and direct and assertive intervention to help them stabilize and rebuild a meaningful life,” said Eby. “This announcement is the beginning of a new phase of our response to the addiction crisis. We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would. We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”

Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau has said that her party supports broadening safer supply programs and looking at alternative access models. She said there needs to be less stigma and barriers for support in the system.

Furstenau said that a Green government would regulate treatment and recovery programs. They would also provide drug education in schools and enhanced mental health support.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.