PCs Helping to Address the Fentanyl Crisis
OTTAWA – Today in Ottawa, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown called on the government to take measures to address Ontario’s growing fentanyl crisis. Brown was joined by Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod.
“Wynne Liberal negligence has allowed fentanyl abuse to reach a crisis point in Ontario,” said Brown. “Many deaths are preventable, yet the government is failing to act.”
According to the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, more than two people each day are dying of opioid overdoses in Ontario. The number of fentanyl overdoses have skyrocketed, increasing 548% between 2006 and 2015.
One of the measures Brown announced was legislation to crack down on illegal pill press machines. This legislation, as well as additional measures, will be introduced by PC MPP Michael Harris in the upcoming weeks.
“Far too often these machines are being bought online to be used to make illegitimate counterfeit pills, often laced with fentanyl,” Brown continued. “This needs to stop. Those who acquire these machines for illegal reasons should be caught, and they should subject to penalties including jail.”
“The City of Ottawa, our health care providers and first responders are doing an exceptional job with the resources they have to address this crisis,” added MPP MacLeod. “But Ottawa, and other communities across the province, shouldn’t have to do this alone. They deserve a provincial government that is taking urgent action.”
“The Ontario PC Caucus has been listening, and we are stepping up to help end the fentanyl crisis,” Brown concluded.
Measures include:
- Crack down on illegal pill press machines used to make counterfeit pills and those who operate them
- Cancel the government’s taxpayer-funded hydro ads and invest that money in an opioid awareness campaign
- Release weekly overdose reporting data to the public
- Create a ministerial task force to take urgent action to help address the opioid crisis