Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to the media during a press conference in Montreal, on July 12. Poilievre said it is now too hard for people to access addiction services at a July 25 news conference in London, Ont.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
The federal government should focus its funding on organizations that are successful in getting people off illegal drugs instead of safe-supply and harm-reduction efforts, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says.
At a news conference in London, Ont., on Thursday, Mr. Poilievre said a Conservative government would bring a results-oriented approach to dealing with addiction.
“We should pay organizations that actually get results,” Mr. Poilievre said. “The result is: Get people off drugs.”
He said his party will release details of its addiction-services policy before the next federal election, expected in late 2025.
It is now too hard for people to access addiction services, he said. “We have treatment facilities. The problem is there are not enough of them.”
“That’s why a lot of people don’t get help. They try. They call a 1-800 number. They dig around. Family members go scrounging around to try and find what’s available. They’re then told it’s $40,000 to put someone in a treatment facility. I appreciate that it is very hard for people to get into these programs.”
Mr. Poilievre’s plans echo the approach that Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party has taken. In Alberta, the government is de-emphasizing harm reduction and targeting funding to a network of treatment centres.
The rise of Alberta’s unlikely drug czar
On Thursday, Mr. Poilievre denounced federal government funding for “money-sucking activists, drug companies, bureaucrats and hack academics” who he said have been involved with the issues of addiction.
“There will be no more money for them. All the money is going to go into treatment and recovery services, detox, counselling, group therapy, sweat lodges for First Nations, physical exercise, job placement, transitional housing.”
During a recent news conference in Montreal, Mr. Poilievre said he would pull funding from supervised injection sites and force them to close, and redirect funding to addiction recovery centres.
There are 38 federally authorized drug-consumption sites across the country, providing users with services including medical supervision, clean needles and drug checks for toxicity.
The sites are generally funded and operated by cities, provinces and non-profits. The federal government does not provide core funding for the sites.
In response to Mr. Poilievre, the office of federal Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks said Thursday that treatment is important in countering the effects of an increasingly toxic and ever-changing illegal drug supply.
“But while the path to recovery is important, people need to stay alive to make it to recovery,” said the statement issued by Yuval Daniel, the Minister’s press secretary.
It said organizations that receive federal funding on harm-reduction issues are required to track the progress of their efforts and are closely monitored.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday that the focus of dealing with the opioid crisis should be saving lives with any required measures, followed by providing needed help and removing drugs from the streets.