B.C. premier defends drug decriminalization as controversy grows, feds scrutinize program
The premier of British Columbia is continuing to defend the three-year pilot program underway in his province that’s decriminalized personal possession of hard drugs, even as the federal government sends its minister responsible to discuss growing concerns and controversies.
David Eby is facing growing public frustration around open drug use and hospital safety, as critics of all stripes question his government’s planning for and response to complications from decriminalization.
CTV News pointed out that Eby is dealing with the fallout from the policy, which was championed and ushered in by his predecessor, John Horgan, and asked how long he’d uphold a measure that wasn’t particularly well-planned and he’s now stuck with.
“It's an incredibly challenging issue. We're trying to keep people alive, get them intro treatment. We've opened hundreds of new treatment beds this year alone,” Eby replied. “We have attempted to put in place a system that recognizes some of the impacts we've seen of the ongoing toxic drug crisis that we're in, including public drug use by some individuals and we're not going to let it go.”
Minister downplays federal scrutiny
CTV News asked B.C.'s Mental Health and Addiction Minister, Jennifer Whiteside, about a meeting Eby revealed would be happening with her federal counterpart, which she downplayed.
“I understand that (the federal mininster) is coming through town next week,” Whiteside said, suggesting there is nothing unusual in next week’s discussions.
The office of federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks confirmed that she will be coming to B.C. to speak with her provincial counterpart and police representatives.
“We have indicated from the outset that the B.C. exemption (to federal drug laws) would be rigorously monitored and evaluated” making special note of safety concerns for health-care workers exposed during in-hospital drug consumption.
The full context behind VPD testimony
Saks’ trip to the West Coast will come on the heels of much-discussed testimony by some of British Columbia’s top police officials at a parliamentary committee looking at “decrim,” as it’s often called.
The official opposition and opponents of the program have seized on Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson’s testimony that half of the hydromorphone pills Vancouver police encounter are safe supply prescribed to drug users and diverted to street-level drug dealers. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/safe-supply-vancouver-police-deputy-chief-says-large-amounts-of-opioids-being-diverted-1.6850520
While that fact has drawn considerable attention, particularly in the wake of the solicitor general’s insistence that there is no evidence of widespread diversion, Wilson repeatedly told parliamentarians that is not her primary concern.
“(People) aren’t dying from diverted prescription medication, they're dying from fentanyl, coke, meth,” said the veteran officer, who’s also the president of the BC Chiefs of Police. “Diversion's an important issue, it's something we're watching very closely but we know from coroner's data that that's not what's killing people in British Columbia.”
Wilson went on to explain that counterfeit pills that can be produced in massive quantities and look like pharmaceutical-grade prescription drugs pose a large-scale, life-threatening issue – so that’s where her officers are focussing their attention.
“(Diversion) pales in comparison to what organized crime are doing in terms of fentanyl production, importation, exportation,” she said, also testifying that planning for decriminalization has been insufficient and “all the concerns we had have been realized.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.