Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he wants to see kids and inmates who suffer from out-of-control addiction issues be required to undergo involuntary treatment.
While he initially said he was open to the idea but needed more time to inform himself earlier this summer, the Conservative leader confirmed to reporters in Ottawa last Thursday that he now fully supports involuntary treatment programs.
“I believe for children and for prisoners who are behind bars, there should be mandatory drug treatment when they are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves,” said Poilievre.
“For adults, again, I’m still doing a lot of research on how that would work.”
Several provinces have begun implementing similar programs in the midst of a national toxic drug crisis.
While the number of drug overdoses is increasing, critics of involuntary treatment question effectiveness and whether such a measure violates civil liberties and patient rights.
However, Poilievre made up his mind after hearing the testimony of 13-year-old Brianna Macdonald’s parents during a parliamentary committee.
After a year-long struggle, the young girl faced an untimely death in a homeless encampment in Abbotsford, B.C.
The two parents told the committee last Tuesday that Brianna’s mental health struggles began after she started experimenting with several types of prescription and illicit drugs at the age of 12.
“Brianna’s father and I would beg doctors to keep her in hospitals,” mother Sarah MacDonald told the committee. “The doctors would overlook what we said and release her, sending us home with Narcan kits.”
They asked police to take her to the hospital by invoking the Mental Health Act after she threatened to harm herself, said Brianna’s father Charles, but the police refused to take her against her will.
“There’s no question in my mind that she should have been in mandatory, involuntary psychiatric and substance abuse treatment, rather than in a homeless encampment in a tent,” said Poilievre on Thursday.
New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs has also pledged to introduce legislation allowing someone with a severe addiction to be forced into treatment as part of his election platform.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith requested her mental health minister create “compassionate intervention legislation” which would allow for involuntary treatment when people using drugs become a danger to themselves or others.
Poilievre has long said that if elected his government would cut funding to supervised injection sites, also known as safe supply sites and place that money into federal support programs that provide treatment options.