Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his government would provide police with additional legal tools to shut down illegal encampments and connect people living in them to housing, addictions treatment, and mental health services.
“No more excuses by politicians claiming they don’t have the powers. The powers will be right there in the Criminal Code,” Poilievre said during a campaign stop in Hamilton, Ont., on April 23.
Poilievre noted the number of chronically homeless people in Canada has risen by 38 percent since 2018 along with a sharp rise in homeless encampments, with the number doubling in Toronto from 82 to 200 over the course of two years.
“Our public spaces have become a breeding ground for addiction, violence, human trafficking, and crime,” Poilievre said. “And for those trapped in these camps, our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our neighbours, they’re left to suffer in the cold, to overdose, and sometimes to die alone.”
Poilievre said his government will “restore order” in communities by amending the Criminal Code to give police the tools to charge those who endanger public safety or discourage people from accessing public spaces by setting up temporary structures such as tents.
He also says he would clarify the law so that police can dismantle illegal encampments and connect those living in them with housing and mental health treatment. Judges would be given the power to order people charged for occupying these spaces to be connected with housing and social services.
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In cases where addiction is a factor, Poilievre said judges would be allowed to make mandatory treatment a part of their prison sentence. “And there will be regular drug tests for prisoners, because we know that if someone comes out continually addicted to drugs, they’re probably going to re-offend,” he said.
The Conservatives’ costed platform, released on April 22, includes several measures to address addiction issues. The Tories would impose mandatory life sentences for those convicted of five or more counts of trafficking fentanyl, launch a $44 billion lawsuit against “Big Pharma” to pay for addiction treatment, ban “drug dens” within 500 metres of schools, parks, and seniors homes, distribute 300,000 naloxone kits to stop overdoses, and provide addiction treatment for 50,000 Canadians.
The platform also says the Conservatives would follow a “housing first” approach to address homelessness. The Conservatives have vowed to build 2.3 million homes over the course of five years through measures like giving more funding to cities that permit over 15 percent more homebuilding each year, getting rid of the GST on new homes under $1.3 million, and identifying 15 percent of suitable federal land and buildings to be pre-zoned and sold off to build new homes.
The Tories would also end the Liberal government’s “safe supply” policy, which allows for physicians to prescribe pharmaceutical-grade opioids to those at risk of overdosing. Poilievre had also previously promised to give judges the power to order mandatory drug treatment for those struggling with addiction.
The Liberal Party’s platform on addressing drug crime says the government would recruit and train 1,000 more RCMP and 1,000 new Canadian Border Services Agency personnel to address drug smuggling and human trafficking. It would also prosecute more complex drug production trafficking and importation offences and amend the Canada Post Corporation Act to allow police to search for drugs in Canada Post mail with a warrant.
