National

NDP MP proposes decriminalizing drug use

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Apr, 2021 12:00 AM

The federal NDP health critic is tabling legislation to decriminalize drug use in Canada, seeking to treat substance use as a health issue amid a lethal opioid crisis.

MP Don Davies introduced a private member's bill today that would scrap Criminal Code provisions on drug possession, expunge criminal records for the same offence and mandate low-barrier access to a safe supply of medically regulated substances.

Today I introduced ground-breaking legislation to treat substance use and addiction as the health issues they are. It calls for full decriminalization, regulated safe supply, record expungement & universal access to treatment. It’s time to end the stigma & heal the trauma. #C286 https://t.co/vwyWThC5lP
— Don Davies MP (@DonDavies) April 15, 2021

The legislation is unlikely to reach the debate stage, but Davies says current federal policy is causing "unneeded deaths," despite moving in the right direction recently.

Addiction is a health issue, not a criminal one. Today I introduced Bill #C286 to recognize this reality. This bill calls for full decriminalization, regulated safe supply, record expungement and universal access to treatment.
It’s time to end the stigma & heal the trauma. pic.twitter.com/8EoVtqLq4P
— Don Davies MP (@DonDavies) April 15, 2021

The Liberal government has proposed to relax penalties for personal drug possession, tabling a bill in February that would repeal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences and require police and prosecutors to consider alternative measures for possession cases, including diversion to addiction-treatment programs.

Health Canada is also working with Vancouver on the city's request for exemption from Criminal Code provisions on simple drug possession.

Vancouver has been the epicentre of an opioid crisis that saw British Columbia record more than 1,700 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2020 — the highest ever in a single year — and more than 7,000 deaths since the public health emergency was declared in April 2016.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Liberals ease access to emergency COVID-19 benefit, plan to top-up wages

The federal government is making changes to its COVID-19 programs to send emergency aid to seasonal workers without jobs and those whose hours have been drastically cut but who still have some income. The changes will also allow people who are making up to $1,000 a month to qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, as well as those whose employment insurance benefits have run out since the start of the calendar year.

Liberals ease access to emergency COVID-19 benefit, plan to top-up wages

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused Wednesday to join the escalating global debate about the World Health Organization's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, insisting Canada remains focused on working with experts around the world to combat the pandemic. Trudeau repeatedly batted back questions about Donald Trump's plan to halt funding to the UN agency and review what the U.S. president says was a failure to properly assess the threat posed by the novel coronavirus back in January.

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada could see the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic before autumn, according to federal projections, but only if strong physical distancing measures are strictly maintained the whole time. Even in that best-case scenario, the federal public health agency projects that a total of 4,400 to 44,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The Canadian economy lost an unprecedented one million jobs in March — the worst recorded single-month change — as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, lifting the unemployment rate to 7.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. The loss is eight times worse than the previous one-month record, yet economists warned it will likely be even worse in April, when the impact of physical distancing practices and other measures became clearer and millions of Canadians began receiving emergency federal aid.

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

Total number of cases broken down by province and the total number right across the country.

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19

B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but it's going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.'s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from five per cent in March.