Poilievre promises to fund 50,000 addictions recovery spaces

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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.

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“(We) will bring recovery, not ruin,” said Poilievre in a short video posted to social media on Sunday morning.

Poilievre said in the 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.

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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.”

He 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.

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.

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The Liberal campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Poilievre has been a harsh critic of the Liberal government’s drug policies, calling its experiments with decriminalization and safer supply, which gives prescribed opioids to addicts, “a complete disaster.”

Statistics indicate that drug overdoses linked to fentanyl and other deadly opioids are on the decline nationally after peaking in 2021.

Data released by Health Canada in December showed opioid-related deaths fell by 11 per cent in the first half of 2024, compared to the same time period in 2023.

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