Conservatives avoid staking out clear position on supervised consumption sites

• AUTHOR(S)Stephanie Taylor
• SOURCECanadian Press
• POSTEDJune 22, 2024

As debate around the Liberals’ drug policy dominated parts of the spring House of Commons sitting, the Conservatives are offering little insight into what approach they would take when it comes to supervised consumption sites. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a rally in Montreal, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

OTTAWA — As debate around the Liberals’ drug policy dominated parts of the spring House of Commons sitting, the Conservatives are offering little insight into what approach they would take when it comes to supervised consumption sites.

When asked earlier this month if a future Tory government would look to change the application process for opening such centres, the party’s addictions critic said she couldn’t speculate.

“But I do think that this has been politicized into a space that is pitting one perspective versus another and that’s not helpful,” Laila Goodridge said.

At supervised consumption sites, users can inject or inhale drugs under the watch of staff who can intervene in the case of an overdose. The centres also often offer drug testing, clean supplies to prevent the spread of disease and referrals to detox or treatment facilities.

Poilievre has been clear about his opposition to other harm reduction strategies that seek to mitigate the opioid overdose crisis.

Those include decriminalization efforts to help keep users out of jail and “safer supply” programs that provide pharmaceutical alternatives to toxic street drugs.

Instead, he wants to offer people “a path to a drug-free life” by emphasizing treatment and recovery. In a 2022 opinion piece, Poilievre also promised to create a national distribution program for nasal naloxone to help reverse overdoses.

But what about supervised consumption sites?

Asked for the party’s position, Goodridge pointed out that the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled on the matter.

“I would recommend that you read that,” she said.

In a landmark 2011 decision, the court unanimously ruled that closing the doors of Canada’s first supervised drug injection site would deprive users of their Charter rights.

The decision kept Insite in operation despite opposition from the then-Conservative government, and the health minister was required to grant an exemption to federal drug laws.

Poilievre’s office declined to say whether he supports supervised consumption sites or would include them as part of his approach to tackling the toxic drug crisis.

It also wouldn’t respond to a question about a reported statement by Poilievre at a town hall in northern Ontario in January. The Sault Star reported that he told the crowd he wouldn’t be prepared to fund supervised consumption sites.

And Poilievre’s office also didn’t answer whether he would review any current operations or change the requirements for operators.

Source: Canadian Press