Tory policies on drug use need improvement

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/11/2022 (754 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Deveryn Ross’ column (“Poilievre stoops to scare tactics,” Nov. 30) is a reminder of how tiresome Conservatives can be when it comes to policies on drug use. The expression “same old, same old” comes to mind.

When the health and lives of Canadians are involved, political parties should be non-partisan.

It is easy to criticize, but if the laws and actions Canada has in place to prevent drugs from coming into the country or to reduce the drug trade are inadequate, how specifically can they be improved? What can be done to prevent illegal drug production in our own country or moving drugs from one province to another?

As well as prevention, the policies of political parties should aim to help people recover from addiction, or at minimum keep people alive.

That brings us to safe consumption sites, which Conservative parties are against. The Manitoba government says they are not a good fit in this province but doesn’t explain why. If they did, perhaps suggestions to make them a good fit might be made. If a government is skeptical about the viability of something such as a safe consumption site, it can’t hurt to try a pilot project.

One would also, as a member of the public, like some statistics. Does the government have any idea of the who, what, why and where of drug use in this province? How are federal funds given to Manitoba and “earmarked for addictions” used?

Unfortunately, when the public is uninformed, politicians like Poilievre and Stefanson can say what they like and remain unchallenged except by the media, which they dismiss as woke or left leaning. Conservatives need to do better.

V. BEELAERT

Russell, Man.