Federal health officials privately acknowledged that Ottawa’s “safe supply” drug policy contributed to public disorder in communities, describing the approach as highly polarizing amid mounting social pressures, according to an internal briefing note.In an October 2 document prepared for the deputy minister of health, the department said drug-related disorder has intensified as the housing crisis and toxic illegal drug supply collide, prompting several municipalities and indigenous communities to declare states of emergency and demand action from governments.Blacklock's Reporter says the briefing, titled Supplemental Binder for the Deputy Minister of Health, conceded there have been “challenges with service delivery and public drug-related disorder in communities,” with no consensus on how best to respond.“A dichotomy is often drawn between harm reduction on the one hand and treatment and recovery on the other,” the note said, adding that stakeholders broadly agree expanded access to treatment is needed, backed by clearer standards and guidelines.The department said views on harm reduction remain deeply divided. Supporters argue it saves lives and connects marginalized users to services that traditional medical models cannot reach, while critics warn the approach undermines public safety and community order..Health officials noted there are 32 federally licensed “safe supply” supervised consumption sites across the country, describing them as having “re-emerged as a highly polarizing issue.”The admission followed Ottawa’s abrupt decision to suspend its 2023 experiment decriminalizing public possession of up to 2.5 grams of cocaine and other hard drugs in British Columbia. The pilot, the first of its kind since Parliament criminalized cocaine and opium in 1911, was meant to run three years but was cancelled after just 15 months.According to figures from the B.C. Coroners Service cited in the briefing, overdose deaths rose 16.5% during the decriminalization period compared with the 15 months prior.The internal assessment contrasted sharply with earlier public messaging from cabinet, which had strongly defended its $1 billion Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy and the safe supply model..“Decriminalization is not the cause of the overdose deaths we are seeing,” then-addictions minister Ya’ara Saks told reporters in 2024. “It is the illegal toxic drug supply that is killing people.”Asked at the time whether the policy had failed, Saks replied, “Absolutely not,” calling the initiative a learning process typical of pilot projects.Saks was removed from cabinet on March 13 and went on to lose her York Centre, Ont., seat in the April 28 general election, defeated by Conservative candidate Roman Baber by 5,792 votes.
