If 22 people were being shot each day on Canadian streets, you might expect a federal state of emergency to be called, a co-ordinated federal-provincial-territorial response, billions of dollars flowing out of government coffers to stop the violence. The opioid crisis hasn’t received the same kind of all-hands-on-deck approach. Instead, there has been immense politicization of the issue, with different sides arguing different approaches while accusing political opponents of making the crisis worse and literally killing people.
In this episode of “ ,” we tackle the question of how to deal with the opioid crisis through different lenses. First, we’ll look at the move behind decriminalization of personal possession for small amounts of illegal drugs. We’ll hear about the experience in British Columbia with its three-year decriminalization pilot, the reforms its brought and the impact in Ontario.
We’ll look at the impact of safe injection sites, and the experience so far with “safe supply.” What is working, what is not working as well as it could be and what’s behind the lack of progress? Then, we’ll sit down with Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams and discuss his province’s focus on treatment and why he believes “safe supply” isn’t the answer. Finally, Federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hadju joins us to provide the federal government’s perspective.
Some of the clips this week were sourced from the House of Comm.