UCP would focus attack on dealers in opioid battle

KENNEY, PARTY FAITHFUL IN LETHBRIDGE THIS WEEKEND

A United Conservative Party government would not see law enforcement “shrugging their shoulders” when it comes to dealing with the drug crisis in Lethbridge, UCP leader Jason Kenney said on Friday.

Kenney is in Lethbridge for a weekend of door knocking and fundraising. On Friday, he held a media availability outside the Galt Museum and Archives overlooking the High Level Bridge.

When asked what a UCP government would do to help Lethbridge deal with the opioid crisis and the burgeoning methamphetamine crisis, Kenney said prevention and increased enforcement was the answer.

Kenney highlighted the danger of the situation by referencing a week in February when Lethbridge emergency services issued a warning following a week where 40 overdoses occurred.

“In the spring there were several dozen overdoses here, obviously coming from this same shipment of particularly rancid (fentanyl),” he said. “Law enforcement should not be shrugging its shoulders. They should be overturning the tables to track down the dealers who brought that into the local market.

“So I don’t accept a shrug of the shoulders.

“If I am premier, I will expect the police services to spare no effort at tracking down the dealers who are bringing that kind of poison here into Lethbridge, the Blood Reserve and elsewhere.”

But the message from Lethbridge Police Service has been the same for more than a year: police cannot arrest their way out of the problem of drug use and all the crime associated with it.

Instead, police have been working on the issue in a number of different ways, from law enforcement to outreach to participation in public information sessions and community partnerships with outreach groups.

Kenney said the key to tackling the drug crisis is prevention first.

“Our view is to first of all focus on prevention, which means much stronger law enforcement,” he said. “We’ll be calling on the federal government to increase resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to interdict the poison of synthetic drugs being imported here through the black market from China and elsewhere.

He said the federal government needs to do more as well.

“The federal government should be imposing sanctions on countries that are allowing this poison to infiltrate into Canada.

“We would focus our police resources on tracking down the peddlers of this poison and putting them behind bars.”

One way that could happen is by strengthening laws for those convicted of trafficking.

“We’ll be working on our federal counterparts to restore the tough-on-crime mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug trafficking that have been repealed by Premier Notley’s close friend and ally Justin Trudeau.

“We’ll be giving additional resources to law enforcement and, as necessary, the provincial court and prosecutors to stop the revolving door to keep these guys behind bars.”

He also said a UCP government would do more to help with recovery facilities.

“We think more needs to be done in terms of drug treatment to help people with addictions. Simply facilitating their often deadly addiction is not a solution to this human tragedy.

“We recognize there is a need to be addressed. We will be putting an emphasis on rehabilitation for people with drug addiction.”

City administration deferred a request to comment to LPS.

LPS Chief Rob Davis was out of the city and unable to be reached for comment by press time.