Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Friday that he would pull funding from supervised injection sites and force some to close, calling them “drug dens.”
Speaking from a Montreal playground around the corner from the Maison Benôit Labre, a transitional housing facility and supervised drug-consumption site, Mr. Poilievre accused Liberal politicians of deliberately encouraging drug addiction.
Yuval Daniel, a spokesperson for Liberal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks, said the sites must have a process for community engagement and addressing concerns about public safety.
Andréane Desilets, director-general of the Maison Benoît Labre, said in a statement that the organization has been serving vulnerable people in the community for 75 years and does not want to be drawn into a political debate.
For Mr. Poilievre to use the term “drug den” is divisive, inaccurate and potentially harmful to users, said Dimitra Panagiotoglou, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health at McGill University in Montreal.
Marc Miller, the Liberal MP for the area and a minister in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, acknowledged residents’ concerns about the drug-consumption site and its proximity to a school in a statement, but said Mr. Poilievre was weaponizing the issue “to incite fear.”
The original article contains 753 words, the summary contains 202 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Friday that he would pull funding from supervised injection sites and force some to close, calling them “drug dens.”
Speaking from a Montreal playground around the corner from the Maison Benôit Labre, a transitional housing facility and supervised drug-consumption site, Mr. Poilievre accused Liberal politicians of deliberately encouraging drug addiction.
Yuval Daniel, a spokesperson for Liberal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks, said the sites must have a process for community engagement and addressing concerns about public safety.
Andréane Desilets, director-general of the Maison Benoît Labre, said in a statement that the organization has been serving vulnerable people in the community for 75 years and does not want to be drawn into a political debate.
For Mr. Poilievre to use the term “drug den” is divisive, inaccurate and potentially harmful to users, said Dimitra Panagiotoglou, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health at McGill University in Montreal.
Marc Miller, the Liberal MP for the area and a minister in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, acknowledged residents’ concerns about the drug-consumption site and its proximity to a school in a statement, but said Mr. Poilievre was weaponizing the issue “to incite fear.”
The original article contains 753 words, the summary contains 202 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!