(Ottawa) Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Ya’ara Saks, announced Tuesday that the federal government has accepted British Columbia’s request to reverse its three-year pilot project to decriminalize drugs in public places.
This change takes effect immediately, she stressed.
“We know we need to address the opioid crisis and overdose deaths. We consider this to be a public health problem. This is a health crisis and not a criminal one,” she told reporters in Ottawa.
“That being said, communities need to be safe, people need to have confidence that they can move freely and they need to feel comfortable in their own community,” she added.
She rejected the idea that this about-face constituted an admission of failure. “This is the first time this has been done. As with all pilot projects, it is a learning process. »
British Columbia asked Health Canada last year to modify an exemption allowing the decriminalization of small quantities of drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Premier David Eby changed his mind due to concerns from the public, nurses and police. He announced in Ottawa on April 26 his desire to once again criminalize the use of these drugs in public spaces such as hospitals and parks. The Trudeau government agreed to his request.
Mme Saks expects police to direct people who need help to appropriate support systems and only make arrests in extreme cases where public safety is at risk.
She maintains that decriminalization is just one political tool among others to counter the overdose crisis, adding that she is frustrated with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s efforts to make it a matter of partisan politics.
“Decriminalization is about ensuring that people do not face stigma and seek help. The opposition has made this topic a dehumanizing debate for those who really need help. »
Police officers will be able to “exercise discretion” and they will have to undergo training, said British Columbia Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth.
For his part, Mr. Poilievre regrets that the Liberals still refuse to recognize that “their dangerous policy was a failure.”
Possession of these drugs in private residences and other spaces remains decriminalized.