Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to impose mandatory life sentences for those caught trafficking, producing, or exporting more than 40 milligrams of fentanyl.
Poilievre said the measure would shut down drug “super labs” and save lives by targeting organized crime kingpins that he accused of mass murder.
“Making and selling fentanyl is mass murder,” said Poilievre.
“Selling 40 mg of this poison is enough to kill 20 people. I will lock up fentanyl kingpins and throw away the key. It’s like spraying bullets into a crowd — even if you don’t aim, you will kill people. The penalty should be the same as murder. I will pass mandatory life sentences so fentanyl kingpins never get out of jail and stop killing our kids.”
Poilievre promised to treat “fentanyl kings” the same as murderers by introducing mandatory life sentences.
Also, Poilievre announced 15-year sentences for traffickers caught with between 20 and 40 milligrams.
Poilievre blamed the Trudeau Liberals and the British Columbia NDP for fueling the current crisis.
Since 2016, more than 49,000 Canadians have died of opioid overdoses.
A number Poilievre said has surpassed the amount of Canadians who died in the Second World War fighting Nazi Germany.
Poilievre pointed to the Liberals Bill C-5, which eliminated mandatory jail time for the production and trafficking of hard drugs, as a “disastrous” policy that he would reverse.
Poilievre also criticized a so-called hard drug legalization experiment in British Columbia, claiming it unleashed “crime, chaos, and death” in Canadian communities.
Poilievre said the rise of drug "super labs" is now making Canada a global source of fentanyl, with the RCMP recently uncovering what officers called the “largest and most sophisticated fentanyl and methamphetamine drug super lab in Canada.”
“We must put Canada first,” said Poilievre.
“We will stop these kingpins who destroy lives at home and send fentanyl abroad … seizures of Canada-sourced fentanyl in places like the U.S. and Australia suggest that domestic production is likely exceeding domestic demand, and that Canada is now a source (and transit) country for fentanyl to some markets."
Poilievre pointed out that 80% of accidental opioid deaths involve fentanyl and intends to treat the mass production of this deadly drug as “mass murder.”