B.C.’S bid to recriminalize drugs hits speed bump

• A decision about whether to recriminalize drug use in British Columbia needs to be made urgently, Canada’s addictions minister said Wednesday, but she says she is still waiting for more information from the province before making a call.

The province is one year into a three-year pilot project to decriminalize possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs, including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. A Health Canada exemption was issued to allow the pilot to proceed.

Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby asked Health Canada to recriminalize the use of those drugs in public spaces, such as hospitals and parks. Possession in private spaces would still be allowed.

The request followed months of backlash from residents, health-care workers, police and conservative politicians about the project’s effect on public safety.

“Addressing the public’s concern around public use is critical to having their understanding about taking a health approach to addiction. Balancing those two things is core, and I hope other jurisdictions take that lesson and don’t repeat our mistakes,” Eby told reporters on Monday.

But Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks said Ottawa needs more information before it can respond to Eby’s request.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS URGENT.

“We’ve asked B.C. for updates and more information on what they’ve submitted to us,” Saks said on her way into a Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday.

“We understand that this is urgent, which is why we’ve asked them to respond to us on an urgent basis so that we can address this.”

Saks would not say what information she’s requested, and her office did not immediately respond to a request for details.

Eby’s request has become a major focus of the opposition Conservatives this week, and Leader Pierre Poilievre has asked the government to immediately recriminalize drugs in public spaces in B.C.

He also posted a letter to X Wednesday asking that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reject Toronto’s own long-standing request to extend the decriminalization pilot.

“If you allow Toronto to legalize hard drugs, as you did with British Columbia, the only outcome will be leaving the most vulnerable Canadians to a life of misery and despair,” Poilievre said in the letter.

Toronto Public Health said in a statement Monday that it is monitoring B.C’S experience, and that in its proposed model, public drug use would remain illegal.