Party positions
What could have kept Archie alive? We’re looking for the political positions on this crisis that could have saved Archie. The drugs he took were poisoned by fentanyl that Archie didn’t know was there. We need policies that would prevent that. The current crisis has claimed more than 12,800 lives in Canada from 2016 until March of this year, and fentanyl was involved in 82% of them. Archie’s death and so many more were preventable. We can create policy that keeps fentanyl out of the drugs in Canada. Which of the parties are taking the positions that could have saved Archie?
1 Decriminalize drug users
This is Issue Number 1 because it’s the first step toward gaining control of the crisis situation. It requires a political response but the federal governing Liberal Party has resisted decriminalization. The Liberals confirmed during the campaign that they will not decriminalize drugs and the Conservatives are not only against decriminalization but also looking to continue with more of the same programming that hasn’t worked. The NDP platform includes decriminalization, which leader Jagmeet Singh pushed for since his taking over the party leadership. The Green Party platform looks to decriminalize, but leader Elizabeth May suggested that re-criminalization is possible after the crisis is abated.
2 Safe supply of clean drugs
The crisis is a supply problem. Fentanyl is poisoning the supply of drugs. As long as the Canadian drug supply is tainted, we will not turn the crisis around. We have consensus among advocates and drug users that taking control of the tainted supply must be the focus of change for the deaths to stop. The NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stops short of committing to cleaning up the supply issues. This is an important question for the NDP. The Green Party is the only one that has committed to a safe supply of clean drugs. That’s the policy that could have saved Archie.
3 Massive scale up of overdose response .
NDP would declare a public health emergency which enables large scale up of response. The Green Party would also declare a public health emergency.
“We haven’t yet gotten close to the scale with the public health response that we need to be able to be combatting the current emergency situation,” Gillian Kolla, a harm reduction worker and public health researcher at the University of Toronto, told Global News.
4 Harm reduction and prevention increases in funding and capacity
Archie was not addicted to anything. When people and politicians focus solely on addictions, or treat the poisoned drug crisis as a health issue, it leaves people like Archie unsafe. People that use drugs recreationally are unsafe in Canada right now. There are harm reduction strategies that help them be a bit safer, but personal knowledge cannot be the basis for a safe society. As long as we allow fentanyl to poison the drug supply, these strategies are just band-aids.
The Liberals have already committed cash to drug treatment programs and expanded supervised consumption sites. These are needed, but are short of what might have made the difference for Archie.
The Conservative Party of Canada does not support harm reduction measures to help people who use drugs be safer. Under a Conservative government, the party indicates there will be decreased support and funding. They’ve also indicated that the Conservatives will not consider decriminalization, which many of the leaders in the response to the tainted drug crisis have said is an important part of gaining control of this crisis.
How will the parties deal with the tainted drug crisis?
See the coverage on party positions from Global TV
See coverage of party positions from the Cape Breton Post
See a summary of party positions from the CBC
Candidate positions
Where does your candidate stand on the tainted drug crisis? Let us know if you’ve heard from them!
You can review the four major issues we’re asking for action or take a look at the questions for candidates.
Here are the ridings we’re following, from East to West, mostly because they were all important in Archie’s life. Some of the candidates in these ridings have reached out to us, and we’re pleased to tell you what they said. All of the ridings and their candidates are over here.
Nova Scotia: Cape Breton-Canso
Archie spent all the summers of his childhood in Cape Breton near Inverness. He worked at the local golf course for four seasons, caddying for people from around the world. His dad is from here and many of Archie’s friends and family live here.
Liberal: Mike Kelloway (Incubant MP Roger Cuzner is not running for re-election)
Conservative: Alfie MacLeod
NDP: Laurie Suitor
Green: Clive Doucet
People’s Party of Canada: Billy Joyce
Rhino: Angus Walker
Nova Scotia: West Nova
Each summer while spending time in Cape Breton, Archie would head down to Pubnico and Yarmouth to visit his grandparents. They’re still living among other friends and family in the area where Archie’s mom, Charlene was born and raised.
Liberal: Jason Deveau (Incubant MP Colin Fraser is not running for re-election)
Conservative: Chris d’Entremont
NDP: Matthew Dubois
Green: Judy Green
People’s Party of Canada: Chad Hudson
Rhino: Nick Archer
Montreal: Dorval-Lachine-Lasalle
We went to see our family friend, Lori Morrison, who is running for the NDP. We told Lori why we want the NDP to fight for a safe supply and decriminalization of drugs: these things could save other people like Archie. The NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, says the party will consider safe supply and supports decriminalization.
Montreal: Laurier-Sainte-Marie
Archie and his friends enjoyed heading to downtown Montreal, like so many of us do! It was on the Main, Boulevard St Laurent, in a club that Archie died on June 29, 2019.
NDP: Nimâ Machouf (Incumbant MP Hélène Laverdière is not running for re-election) believes the issue is a public health one and supports decriminalization.
Liberal: Steven Guilbeault
Conservative: Lisa des Greniers
Bloc Québécois: Michel Duchesne
Green: Jamil Azzaoui
People’s Party of Canada: François Lefebvre
Rhinoceros: Archie Morals
Quebec: Vaudreuil-Soulanges
Archie moved to Saint Lazare when he was 2 years old and lived the rest of his life here. He went to the local schools and enjoyed the communities of Hudson, Vaudreuil and Saint-Lazare.
Liberal: Peter Schiefke (Incumbent)
Bloc Québécois: Noémie Rouillard
Green: Cameron Stiff
NDP: Amanda MacDonald
Conservative: Karen Cox
People’s Party of Canada: Kaylin Tam
Ontario: Vanier
Liberals: Mona Fortier (Incumbent)
Conservatives: Joel Bernard
NDP: Stéphanie Mercier
Ms. Mercier told us when we met with her at her riding office that she was part of a community-based safe consumption initiative before these were supported by government. With grassroots experience, Ms. Mercier says she is behind harm reduction strategies and supports decriminalization as a step toward getting the tainted drug crisis under control.
Green: Oriana Ngabirano
People’s Party: Paul Durst
Ontario: Kanata-Carlton
Liberals: Karen McCrimmon (Incumbent)
Conservatives: Justina McCaffrey
NDP: Melissa Coenraad
When we met with Ms. Coenraad on September 28, 2019, she said that the opioid crisis is an important issue and assured us of her commitment to the NDP promises to change how we are dealing with the harm that fentanyl is causing. Decriminalization and more support for harm reduction are among the promises.
Green: Jennifer Purdy
PPC: Scott Miller
Ontario: Ottawa Centre
Liberals: Catherine McKenna (Incumbent) would focus on providing services.
Conservatives: Carol Clemenhagen indicates that the crisis is a problem of addictions. It’s not. Archie was not addicted to anything, so her ideas to”help people who are suffering from addictions” would do nothing.
NDP: Emilie Taman
Ms. Taman told Charlene on October 8, 2019, that she understands the need for decriminalization and supports it. She says she is committed to a safe drug supply. A former Crown Prosecutor, Ms. Taman is known for her advocacy on drug issues.
Green: Angela Keller-Herzog supports decriminalization and safe supply. Ms. Keller-Herzog says the Green Party sees drug problems as health issues and as poverty issues, but not as criminal issues.
People’s Party of Canada: Merylee Sevilla does not support decriminalization. Ms. Sevilla points to the legalization of marijuana which, she says, did not make the government any money. Perhaps she misunderstood the reason why we’re looking for decriminalization.
Animal Protection Party: Shelby Bertrand
Libertarian Party of Canada: Coreen Corcoran
National Citizens Alliance: Adam Rolston
“I’ve seen the harms that criminalization caused. The criminalization of opioids and other drugs is contributing to the public health crisis that we are seeing today that is the opioid crisis. So I would actually take it one step further. In addition to decriminalizing, we have to start looking at safe supply. It’s the only way we are going to prevent these deaths…. If it was babies dying at the rate we are seeing people dying from opioid overdoses, we would be doing much more than we are.”
NDP Candidate for Ottawa Centre Emilie Taman, Town Hall debate September 25 2019
Alberta: Edmonton-Strathcona
Archie visited his mother, Charlene here while she worked for the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Health from 2015-2018. They stayed in an apartment on Whyte Avenue and enjoyed wondering the streets of the province’s capitol.
NDP: Heather McPherson (Incumbant MP Linda Duncan is not running for re-election)
Liberal: Eleanor Olszewski
Conservatives: Sam Lilly
People’s Party of Canada: Ian Cameron
Green: Michael Kalmanovitch
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada: Dougal MacDonald
Archie MV 