Poilievre calls supervised consumption sites ‘drug dens,’ vows to close some

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre gave his clearest position yet on supervised consumption sites, referring to them as “drug dens” and vowing to shut down some of these sites if elected prime minister.

Poilievre also said a Conservative government would pull federal funding for such operations.

“We will close safe injection sites next to schools, playgrounds, anywhere else they endanger the public,” Poilievre said Friday.

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He held the news conference at a playground in southwest Montreal — near a transitional housing project that also includes a supervised consumption site — that has been a source of controversy in the community.

“We will defund them. There will not be a single taxpayer dollar from the Poilievre government going to drug dens. Every single penny will go to treatment and recovery service, to bring our loved ones home drug-free,” Poilievre said.

The Conservative leader criticized the riding’s Liberal MP, Marc Miller, of “doing nothing” to address public safety concerns.

Poilievre has recently held several events in Montreal as the party tries to make inroads in the city, particularly in the Liberal stronghold of Mount-Royal held by Anthony Housefather.

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The first supervised consumption site opened in Vancouver two decades ago, and according to Health Canada, there are currently 39 across the country.

The agency says the goal is to prevent overdose deaths and the spread of infections like HIV and hepatitis C, and to provide medical care and mental health support.

A 2011 Supreme Court ruling said shutting down the first operation in Vancouver would violate Charter rights.

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But Poilievre said that does mean the sites can operate anywhere without “reasonable restrictions.”

The Conservative leader also pledged to make it harder to open supervised consumption sites, which must receive an exemption from the federal government under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to operate.

“We have the power under section 56.1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to reject these drug dens and shut them down where they endanger the public and that’s what I’m going to do,” Poilievre said.

Since 2016, there have been more than 44,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada.

— with files from The Canadian Press

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