Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to fund addiction recovery centres across Canada by having the government sue “the drug companies that caused this crisis in the first place.”
Poilievre hopes that if elected, his plan will help 50,000 people struggling with addiction.
“We’re not just going to add more expense to the government,” said Poilievre during a rally in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Wednesday. “I’m going to pay for it by cutting off the taxpayer-funded unsafe supply of opioids by suing the drug companies that caused this crisis in the first place and by getting rid of back office bureaucracy.”
The target recovery figure of 50,000 Canadians would match the number of people who have died of opioid overdoses since 2016.
“We want front-line community-based bottom-up organizations that get people off drugs after the lost Liberal decade of rising overdoses, crime and costs. We can’t afford a fourth term. We need to stop the drugs for a change with a new Conservative government.”
Poilievre released a video on Sunday, detailing his approach to the fentanyl crisis, which addressed Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s refusal to call Canada’s fentanyl problem a “crisis” while acknowledging that it is one in the U.S. Instead, he called it a “challenge” domestically.
In the video, Poilievre said that more people have died due to opioid overdoses in the last ten years “than died for Canada fighting in the Second World War.”
“The Trudeau-Carney Liberals decriminalized cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other deadly drugs, leading to a 200 per cent increase in overdose deaths.”
According to Poilievre, a Conservative government would allocate around $250 million per year over four years to finance residential recovery centres, providing medium- to long-term care for those battling addictions.
“People struggling here can’t get real help while the Trudeau-Carney Liberals continue to fund activists, pharmaceutical companies and bureaucrats that make the problem worse,” said Poilievre. “Our people can’t get the help they need to fight their addictions.”
He pointed to several recovery centres across the country which have had success in getting people off drugs as opposed to so-called “safe-supply” injection sites, which more often than not only exacerbate users’ problems.
He promised to fund these centres on “results-based funding,” with higher rates given to those who are helping patients facing long-term homelessness issues and multiple overdoses.
“Funds will be paid out gradually, as people who receive treatment stay off drugs,” said Poilievre. “Third-party validators will confirm that results are achieved. Payments will be tied to verified success not bureaucratic box-checking.”
He also intends to ban “pro-drug organizations” from receiving federal funds.
Drug Prevention Network of Canada president Chuck Doucette championed Poilievre’s addiction plan by saying, “It’s about time.”
“It’s about time that we had a federal government in Canada that is more concerned about helping unfortunate Canadians get their lives back by getting into treatment rather than giving them free drugs,” Doucette told True North. “They deserve a second chance for a drug-free life, and not to be condemned to a short life of free drugs.”
Additionally, Poilievre said that a Conservative government will treat fentanyl traffickers as the “murderers they are.”
Anyone caught trafficking over 40 milligrams, enough to kill 20 people, will face life in prison,” said Poilievre.
The Canadian border would also be further strengthened with an additional 2,000 Canada Border Services Agency officers, equipped with shipping container scanners at ports and expanded patrols using drones and surveillance towers to stop the flow of drugs.
Poilievre has been a longtime harsh critic of the Liberal government’s drug policies such as the “safe supply” decriminalization of hard drugs.
Last fall, Poilievre endorsed involuntary treatment for minors and inmates who suffer from out-of-control addiction issues.
“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 in October.
“For adults, again, I’m still doing a lot of research on how that would work.”
According to Statistics Canada, fentanyl-related drug overdoses have begun to decline nationally after peaking in 2021.
However, there were still 5,262 opioid-related deaths between January and September of last year and nearly 20,000 emergency room visits.
There were also 4,241 opioid-related poisonings that resulted in hospitalization and 28,813 Emergency Medical Service calls over that period, averaging 105 per day.