In 2020, the BC Conservatives captured less than two percent of the vote and zero seats. Last month, they came within a hair of winning a majority. The issues debated among the major candidates were to be expected: the chronic housing shortage, the downturn in general productivity, and health care. However, no issue drew more polarization than the province’s approach to the drug-use epidemic.
A New Face
John Rustad, the new leader of the BC Conservatives, has been subject to an eventful last few years. From being expelled from the BC United party for his views on climate change, to becoming the leader of the biggest opposition party, Rushstad’s current path is unprecedented in provincial politics. On a macro level, it is a story that we have seen many times before a political outsider experiences a dramatic rise to prominence and receives unexpected electoral success. The BC Conservative’s rise is a microcosm of events on a national and global scale: moderate parties, like BC United, tend to lose ground to those that are more ideologically left or right-winged. This most recent election saw a complete collapse of BC United; party leader Kevin Falcon suspended the party’s campaign and endorsed Rustad’s candidacy.
Image Courtesy of 338Canada
Harm Reduction
British Columbia (BC) has had safe injection sites since the 1990s, among the oldest in North America. The expansion of these sites, which would have allowed for consumption in any public place, was recently discontinued, as NDP premier David Eby requested that the federal government recriminalize public intake of “illicit drugs.” The move showcased the change in a province that has tried several measures of harm reduction, which have come under increasing scrutiny by BC voters, and has been a topic front and centre for the BC Conservatives to ridicule its contenders. Rustad had been in favour of ending the drug decriminalization pilot program altogether.
Drug-related deaths are an ongoing issue to differing extents across Canada, but nowhere in the province of British Columbia is more infamous for its drug problem than Vancouver. Rustad had previously promised to rid BC of safe injection sites, a policy initially implemented under the method of harm reduction for drug use. The belief was simple: if people are going to consume drugs, it is better that they do so with safe, sterile equipment, access to medical personnel, and treatment if need be. Rustad has instead proposed mental health facilities, which would “connect people with addictions to mental health and addiction-recovery services.”
However, the issue is not only present at the provincial level. Rustad’s provincial drug policy is similar to the rhetoric used by national Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre. Indeed, Pollievre has frequently used BC as an example of the disorder caused by Prime Minister Trudeau’s approach to ameliorating the drug epidemic in Canada, and has even referred to safe injection sites as “drug dens”. In contrast, Erin O’Toole, the previous federal Conservative leader had supported safe injection sites.
The Liberals have favoured strategies of “safe supply”, and have partnered with the previous BC government to ensure the implementation of this strategy.
The Future
Whatever the reason, rates of accidental drug overdose remain very high and have grown significantly in the past 20 years. If this is attributable to harm reduction or in spite of it is rather contested: what remains true is that many in the province are upset with the measures taken by the federal and provincial governments. NDP Premier David Eby agreed with one of the aforementioned suggestions by Rustad, despite some experts claiming such a scheme would not be effective: involuntary treatment for those struggling with drug addiction, mental health or other related issues. This sort of rhetoric and agreement in a bi-partisan manner would have been unthinkable even just a few years ago. It was this same NDP government that was full throttle on safe injection sites and safe drug supply.
One highly publicized example that received widespread condemnation from the BC Conservatives was the various vending machines that dispensed naloxone and clean needles, some of which were even placed outside hospitals. In what has become emblematic of greater trends in British Columbian drug policy, the vending machines were quietly removed as yet another harm reduction program was abandoned. While harm reduction is very likely to continue under the next provincial government, it seems the policy has reached an inflection point. Only time will tell if the results of that change are to be desired.
Edited by Isabelle Monette
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and they do not reflect the position of the McGill Journal of Political Science or the Political Science Students’ Association.
Featured image obtained via Wikimedia Commons
