NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Sunday that he will fund centre-based addictions care for 50,000 Canadians if he becomes prime minister.
“Now that we’ve lost 50,000 to overdoses the least we can do is, in their honour, save 50,000 more,” said Poilievre, flanked by an entourage of supporters, several in recovery themselves.
Poilievre said in an earlier video that a Conservative government will budget an average of $250 million per year for four years to fund residential recovery centres that provide medium- to long-term care to those struggling with addictions.
Part of this sum will be rerouted from $144 million in federal dollars currently earmarked for programs like safer supply, he said.
Poilievre also said he expected some of this funding to be recouped from government lawsuits against the opioid manufacturers that “caused the (opioid) crisis in the first place.”
Poilievre added that he’ll downsize the federal bureaucracy managing addictions and ban “pro-drug organizations” from receiving federal funds.
“No middlemen, no bureaucracy, just real help for those who need it,” said Poilievre.
Poilievre said that the federal network of centre-based care would be patterned after the Alberta recovery model, which has shown early promise in reducing both opioid deaths and deaths linked to other addictive substances like alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamines.
Former three-time White House Office of National Drug Control Policy adviser Kevin Sabet said he welcomed Poilievre’s announcement and hopes the other party leaders will follow in his footsteps.
“Canada desperately needs more treatment beds, and it also needs more levers to get people into those beds. This is an excellent first step that should be non-political, non-partisan, and non-controversial,” said Sabet.