Poilievre vows to defund safer supply drug policies, put money into treatment

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will take all federaldollars out of programs and facilities that use prescribed drug alternatives in perhaps his strongest commitment yet to roll back a Liberal drug program he claims is fuelling"chaos" on the country's streets.

The Tory leader said his government would focus squarely on recovery, adding that there's no room to compromise on so-called safer supplyfacilities thathe sees as the cause of the current state of the addiction crisis.

"Am I going to give any more money to these agencies that caused the crisis? No. They're not going to get any more money. They've caused the mayhem," Poilievre said at a press conference Thursday at a playground in London, Ont.

Safer supply is a term used by some advocates and officials for prescribed alternative programs, which along with supervised consumption sites are part of harm reduction strategies.

Poilievre rejects the term andhas previously said he would defund facilities that provide prescribed alternatives near schools and parks.

Thursday's comment suggests a future Conservative government would be even more sweeping and expand that pledge to all areas.

Poilievre pointed to Harvest House Ministries, an Ottawa drug treatment facility, as an example of an organization the news media should speak with abouthow best to address drug policy.

The 24-bed facility offers live-in treatment for men aged 16 to 30 who are struggling with addiction and are seeking treatment to satisfy bail conditions after a criminal conviction.

The facility's director, Daniel Crepault, told CBC News he doesn't have a problem with safer supply he just ultimately wants people to get treatment.

"I believe people who are doing safe supply want to save lives, and it's hard to really object to that,"Crepaultsaid.

"I understand harm reduction generally is trying to help people, but it must always be remembered that it's like trying to stem the bleeding; it's not an actual long-term treatment. It doesn't get people out of the problem, it just keeps them alive for another day."

Crepault said there's a "huge" demand for Harvest House's services.

He said many would-be patients also have mental health issues like bipolar disorder and schizophreniain addition to their drug addiction conditions that his treatment facility isn't fully equipped to manage.

WATCH | Canadians convicted for drug-related crimes should get treatment in prison, Poilievre says

Poilievre says he wants Canadians with drug addiction to be in treatment

1 month ago

Duration 1:53

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he agrees with one of his MPs' proposals that Canadians who are convicted for drug-related offences should receive drug treatment in prison as part of the sentence.

'Too hard' to find the right programs, says Poilievre

For his treatment-first policy proposal to be effective, Poilievreconceded a future Conservativegovernment would need torapidly expand access to these programs.

"It is too hard to find right [programming] now and that's why a lot of people don't get help. They try, you know. They call a 1-800 number, they dig around, family members go scrounging around to try and find out what's available. They're then told that it's $40,000 to put someone in a treatment," Poilievre said.

"We have treatment facilities. The problem is there's not enough of them," he said.

Yuval Daniel, aspokesperson for Mental Health and Addicitions Minister Ya'ara Saks, said that safer supply programs are meant to help save lives by givingpeople alternatives to drugs like fentanyl and reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

"Pierre Poilievre says he will 'exclusively address addiction'without any funding for harm reduction, but how do you treat someone who is dead?We know we need a broad range of health care services across the continuum of care because there is no single approach to ending this crisis," Daniel said in a media statement.

Poilievrealso raised the issue of prescribed alternative drugs being diverted from their intended useandused as black market currency.

At a July 15 news conference, London Police Chief Thai Truong said they'dseized more than 11,000 Dilaudid tabletsthe brand name forhydromorphone in the first six months of 2024.

• Prescribed Dilaudids from safe supply used as currency for illicit drugs, London police say

Instead of being used for their prescribed purpose, those tabletsare being resold, Truong said.

"It's being trafficked into other communities, and it is being used as currency in exchange for fentanyl, fuelling the drug trade. That is a big concern for us," Truong said.

To address that phenomenon, Daniel said that the government is stepping up diversion mitigation measures at federally funded facilities, and called on provinces and territories to take similar action.

Poilievre 'not serious about this,' says Singh

Speaking in Toronto Thursday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he doubts Poilievre's commitment on the addictions issue and accused the Tory leader of using it to score political points.

"I question the genuine nature of Pierre Poilievre. He's not serious about this," Singh said.

"This isfor him [about] playing politics, this is for him about dividing people. We're focused on saving lives, getting people the help they need and getting the toxic garbage off our streets."

When askedif he would be supportive of legislation making drug treatment mandatory similar to what is being considered in Alberta under the promised Compassionate Intervention Act Poilievre said he did not know.

Poilievre said he would have to see evidence first that such anapproach is effective.

He did say that a member of hiscaucus, British ColumbiaMP Tracy Grey, has floated the idea of federal legislation where a judge could make addictions treatment part of a prison sentence when crimes are linked to addiction.

"That makes sense to me, because they're already going to be in prison anyway," Poilievre said. "They might as well be cleaning up their body and their souls and their addictions."

No plan for national decriminalization: Saks

During his opening comments, Poilievrealso accused the Liberal government of having a "secret document" with plans for national drug decriminalization after the election.

"Blacklock's Reporter got their hands on the document and it showed a secret scheme to legalize crack, heroin, cocaine and other hard drugs, which if Trudeau and the NDP are re-elected will be as easy to get in your neighbourhood as a candy bar at a corner store," Poilievre said, referring to an Ottawa-based online news outlet.

Daniel, the spokesperson for Saks,said that characterization was "completely false."

The "so-called secret memo," Daniel said, was part of briefing materials prepared for Saks from her recent appearance at the House of Commons health committee.

"These materials are proactively disclosed online and can be accessed on Open Government. There is no plan for 'national decriminalization,'" Daniel wrote.

"While Conservatives try to score cheap political points and twist publicly available briefing materials into something they are not, we'll keep working to save lives."

WATCH |Ottawa approves B.C.'s request to amend drug decriminalization pilot program

Ottawa approves B.C.s request to amend drug decriminalization pilot program

4 months ago

Duration 3:46

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Yaara Saks tells Power & Politics that before responding to British Columbias request, the federal government wanted to ensure there was operational clarity in terms of the direction to law enforcement. B.C. Premier David Eby asked for a change to the exemption order to recriminalize the use of illicit drugs in public spaces.

Under the heading "National Decriminalization," a four-paragraph section inthe memo in question says the federalgovernment is committed to working with jurisdictions that have a "comprehensive plan" for decriminalizing "the possession of small amounts of substances for personal use."

Thoseplans would have to have oversight and criteria to evaluate how effective they are at addressingthe addictions crisis, the document adds.

Such an agreement exists with British Columbia, and was modified in May torecriminalize public drug use following a request from Premier David Eby.

The City of Toronto made a similar requestto decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs, but Saksrejected it.

The minister said the federal governmentwill only work with provinces on decriminalization initiatives. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said he isfirmly against Toronto's proposal.