Provinces not yet equipped to force addicts into treatment: Minister

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OTTAWA – Provincial leaders should focus on improving access to treatment before deciding whether those struggling with addiction should decide to leave on their own or involuntarily, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ said Friday. now Saks

Saks appeared before reporters to announce the launch of a $150 million fund that cities and First Nations can apply for to access funding programs to help them respond to the overdose crisis, which experts in public health say it is driven by an increasingly toxic drug supply.

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Asked about the growing demands for involuntary treatment Friday, Saks said jurisdictions must first ensure they have treatment services “that they currently don’t have.”

“Before looking at voluntary or involuntary treatment, I would like the provinces and territories to make sure that they actually have access to needs-based treatment,” he said. “They are not there yet. They have the resources and the tools to do it.”

Leaders like BC NDP Leader David Eby, who is campaigning for re-election in the province known as ground zero for the crisis, has pledged to open facilities that offer involuntary care for people with serious addictions and mental illnesses

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also promised her United Conservative Party government would introduce a law that would allow family members, police or doctors to seek involuntary treatment on another person’s behalf.

Conservative federal opposition leader Pierre Poilievre also told reporters Thursday that he supports involuntary treatment for minors and those in prison suffering from mental illness and addiction, but is still studying the issue when it comes to adults .

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Saks said the federal government’s role is to support the provinces when it comes to health care, which he emphasized is the responsibility of the provinces and territories to administer.

“Before we talk about involuntary or voluntary treatment, I’d like to see them use and access the $200 billion worth of robust health care agreements that have been signed across the country,” he said, referring to to the agreement announced with the jurisdictions in the past past. year

“It’s about political will and allocating the resources they have to provide access to treatment to those who need it in a timely and accessible way.”

Poilievre has been leading the charge in criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the overdose crisis, whose deaths the federal health agency began tracking in 2016.

More than 47,000 people have died from opioid-related poisonings from January 2016 to March 2024, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

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Many public health experts, addiction experts and other advocates say the staggering death toll stems from an increasingly toxic supply of drugs.

Poilievre says the federal government has not offered enough treatment options to help Canadians recover. He has criticized his support for supervised consumption sites, which he calls “drug cods,” as fueling addiction, and his funding of “safer supply” programs that offer users pharmaceutical alternatives such as hydromorphone for prevent them from using drugs on the street.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has pledged to close 10 supervised consumption sites, which are facilities that allow people to bring their own drugs to use under someone else’s supervision in case of overdose

Ford cited public safety concerns in its decision to close the sites.

Saks defended Friday that those facilities have reversed about 58,000 overdoses since 2016, saying that when access to them is closed, it puts people’s lives at risk.

He added that there are examples of jurisdictions where these sites work well within communities and public safety concerns are properly addressed.

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“Jurisdictions are responsible for the health services they provide,” Saks said Friday.

“We continue to provide guidelines and standards. We provide the regulatory structures for safe consumption sites that operators comply with, but yes, the provinces have a key role to play in that.”

National Post

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