Reality check: Pierre Poilievre says Justin Trudeau legalized hard drugs in British Columbia. Is that true?
published on May 26, 2024 by Raisa Patel in Toronto Star
OTTAWA—You’ve probably heard him say it: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre claims Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government “legalized hard drugs” in British Columbia, a move he believes will unleash “chaos and carnage” across Canada.
He’s referring to B.C.’s three-year pilot program, which attempts to tackle the province’s drug toxicity crisis by decriminalizing the use of small amounts of certain illegal drugs to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal one.
“The Liberal government granted the B.C. NDP’s request to allow hard drugs … in the province, including in public places. This reckless and radical and wacko policy has killed 2,500 British Columbians in one year alone,” Poilievre said in Vancouver last week, where he announced his party’s own legislative effort to curb the use of illicit drugs in hospital settings.
But is there truth behind the charged language Poilievre uses when he talks about the controversial policy?…