May 05, 2024 - 21:49
By cbc.ca

Political fireworks about drug decriminalization leave Toronto request in limbo

A request by Canada's biggest city to move forward on drug decriminalization is in limbo, facing significant provincial opposition and renewed political debate prompted by a partial rollback of B.C.'s existing policy.

Toronto put forward a request to the federal government in 2022, and provided additional information in 2023, Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city's medical officer of health, said in an interview on that aired Sunday.

«Fundamentally, what that's about is recognizing that addiction is, at its core, a health issue not a criminal issue,» she told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

The issue of drug decriminalization, already a tense political debate across the country, was reignited this week when B.C. announced it was looking to roll back part of an exemption that decriminalized possessing small amounts of some drugs.

B.C. now hopes to recriminalize the use of drugs in public places.

«We're taking action to make sure police have the tools they need to ensure safe and comfortable communities for everyone as we expand treatment options so people can stay alive and get better,» B.C. Premier David Eby said this week.

Federal Conservatives have pointed to the B.C. request as a sign that drug decriminalization has failed, with leader Pierre Poilievre calling the policy «wacko.»

B.C.'s drug decriminalization request was in support of a Vancouver municipal application, which had previously been sent by the city to the federal government.

Vancouver is not the only municipality to have weighed the benefits of decriminalization: Montreal's public health director expressed support for it in 2022, the same year Toronto made its first request.