After Ottawa decided to decriminalize the possession of a small amount of hard drugs starting next year in British Columbia, the New Democratic Party (NDP) fears that the Liberals will oppose its own plan to decriminalize coast to coast.
Wishing to tackle the opioid crisis, the Trudeau government announced on Tuesday that it would soon be possible to walk around Vancouver with 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, ecstasy or methamphetamine in your pocket without risking to be arrested by the police or charged with a crime.
“Bravo for the people of British Columbia, but there are people dying across the country,” reacted Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice.
He fears that the Liberals, or at least part of the caucus, will oppose the NDP’s proposal to decriminalize drugs in this way across Canada. “It really has to be the federal government that acts,” he concludes.
His colleague, MP Gord Johns, elected in British Columbia, tabled Bill C-216 on this subject in November. It must be put to the vote on Wednesday. Mr. Johns is already warning liberals who would oppose it: “How will you be able to sleep at night? »
The plan to decriminalize drugs in Canada was not part of the agreement between the Liberal Party and the NDP to allow the former to win important votes in the Commons and thus continue to govern until 2025.
The federal initiative will involve the creation of an exception to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow the possession of small amounts of drugs “for personal use”. This measure applies strictly to the territory of the province of British Columbia. It will not take effect until January 31, 2023, in order to give its police officers some time to prepare for it.
“Today we are taking the first steps toward the bold action and meaningful policy change we need,” said federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett during an announcement in Vancouver.
Drugs will remain illegal, and many exceptions will remain for the decriminalization of their possession. Minors will still be prohibited from possessing such substances, and anyone else in certain places, such as schools, daycare centers or airports. Possession of drugs will also remain prohibited when driving a vehicle, for example.
Drug trafficking will remain a crime, as will importing or possessing more than 2.5 grams of these products. Ottawa will leave it to British Columbia to see how to apply the law in ambiguous cases. The exemption from the drug laws will last for at least three years, during which time Ottawa will study its effects.
The Trudeau government is responding to a request from the Victorian government, which wants this measure to reduce the number of overdoses. The explanation presented is that decriminalization will encourage drug users to seek health care without fear of arrest, which has the potential to save lives.
Several provinces have reported record levels of overdose deaths in the past five years. Nearly 27,000 people lost their lives in this way in the country between January 2016 and September 2021, according to federal data.
A beginning
This evolution in terms of decriminalization could indeed only be the beginning, since the Trudeau government promises to study all the requests presented to it on a case-by-case basis.
No other province has so far asked to be covered like British Columbia by this exception to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but the City of Toronto did so last December. Montreal also showed support for the idea in early 2021, but has not yet submitted an official request to the federal government.
The Trudeau government has taken on the task of reducing minimum sentences for various crimes, including certain offenses related to drug possession, in its Bill C-5 currently under consideration. The New Democratic Party (NDP) tabled its own bill in November to decriminalize all drugs across Canada. The text of Bill C-216 is due for a vote on Wednesday.