Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is taking issue with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s talk of forcing people with drug addictions into treatment as the country grapples with a deadly opioid crisis.
In another sign of tensions between the provincial and federal Tories, with polls suggesting Poilievre is poised to become Canada’s next prime minister, Jones said mandatory rehab is the wrong path.
“I have concerns that involuntary treatment would not lead to the outcomes that we want,” Jones said Wednesday at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“But having said that, when we see the opportunity and the need for intervention, and people are willing to take on those treatments to make a difference, that’s when we can show them our government is committed.”
Already worried enough about a Poilievre victory in the next federal election that would mean nothing good for the provinces (reduced transfer payments, ending the Trudeau strategy on EV production, etc.), Doug Ford is said to be contemplating an early Ontario election to get ahead of the fiscal bloodshed that will ensue with a Poilievre victory. It is therefore crucial for him to distinguish his government from the federal one-in-waiting, without alienating his right-wing supporters.
Jones said the province, where Premier Doug Ford has expressed reservations about safe consumption sites, has a new addictions plan coming in which “treatment is a very large portion.”
No further details were made available, but it is clear Ford sees the danger in too close an alignment with the kinds of draconian measures being proposed by Poilievre. But he will also have to face the fact that even more than his own government, Poilievre is very good at dumbing down important public policy issues to mere soundbites. Indeed, I would not be surprised if, along with his other facile pronouncements like axe the tax, spike the hike, jail, not bail and hard time for hard crime, PP's braintrust comes up with something like nix the fix!
Has a bit of a ring, doncha think?
