MLA Minute

By Doug Clovechok

When B.C. mothers call on this government for action, it is time to listen. It has been three months since Premier David Eby and the NDP government decriminalized possession of up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA for personal use.

When the federal government gave the decriminalization green light to B.C., it was done with the stipulation that robust guardrails were to be in place prior to implementation. The NDP chose not to follow the guidelines.

In Nanaimo, a five-year-old child recently found an envelope of fentanyl at a playground. Thankfully her mother was able to retrieve it and notify the RCMP. This highlights the fact that we are just one step away from the loss of an innocent life. In response, the BC United Caucus is calling on this government to ban the use of illicit drugs at playgrounds and public parks, but

Premier Eby won’t listen.

Consuming alcohol or cannabis on a park bench is illegal, but using crystal meth, cocaine or fentanyl on that same park bench is permissible. There is something incredibly wrong with this picture.

Further proof of the failure of the hastily rolled-out decriminalization is borne out in the numbers.

The death toll of B.C.’s illicit drug overdose crisis climbed to 596 in the first three months of 2023, in what the province’s chief coroner is calling “a crisis of incomprehensible scale.”

The B.C. Coroners Service released its 2023 summary of unregulated drug deaths in the province, which shows there were 197 in March, 177 in February and 222 in January. The lives lost between January and March of 2023 represent the second-highest total ever recorded in the first three months of a year since B.C. declared the toxic drug overdose crisis a public health emergency in 2016.

As we brace for what will inevitably be more tragic news, we should look at the experience of other jurisdictions to understand what does and does not work.

The State of Oregon enacted “Measure 110” in February 2021, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs. In the first year of its new measure, there was a 52% rise in opioid deaths.

It is apparent that the B.C. NDP response to these unnecessary deaths could lead to similar results.

In February of this year, our B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon presented the “Better is Possible” plan to both overhaul the delivery of mental health services and build a recovery-oriented system of care for those suffering from addiction. Why isn’t our current B.C. NDP government listening to and adopting these common-sense solutions?

As your MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, I will continue to call on this government to fulfill the federal government’s requirements and do everything in my power to ensure that your family is safe. Increased access to treatment and recovery facilities in rural and remote areas is critical to this response. Citizens are demanding that the needed guardrails are put in place right now.

I want to hear from you about any concerns you have about this or any other issue. I read every email I receive. Please reach out to me at [email protected] or call my office in Kimberley at (250) 432-2300 or Revelstoke at (250) 805-0323.

– Doug Clovechok is Member of the Legislative Assembly for Columbia River-Revelstoke

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