YOUR PERSPECTIVE: NDP continues to ignore public safety mess of their own making

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Some of these repeat offenders have hundreds of negative interactions with police on their records, and yet they are being put back on the streets of our communities because government does not want to hold them accountable.

Charge laid

Chilliwack RCMP pull over city bus after report of firearm-related incident, man later charged

8h ago

Hold and secure

Secondary school in Chilliwack undergoes brief hold and secure Wednesday

12h ago

New hotel ownership

Royal Hotel in Chilliwack purchased by new owners, will undergo name change

14h ago

The NDP displayed this same type of contempt for order and public safety when they launched their reckless drug decriminalization experiment last year. They moved forward without putting in place any of the necessary guardrails, failing to invest in safeguards or increase the focus on treatment, and left our communities to deal with the fallout. As a result, we’ve seen an explosion in public drug use, in addition to the growing problem of diversion, where publicly-supplied addictive drugs are sold on the street.

We just saw an example of this in Campbell River, where police seized 3,500 pills diverted from the NDP’s safe supply program. In the same seizure, they also found fentanyl powder molded into the shape of gummy bears and dinosaurs.

Over the past year, we have seen many examples of diverted drugs ending up in the hands of youth, and tragically, we now know many have lost their lives from an overdose on this supposedly ‘safe’ supply. Even when faced with hard evidence, this government continues to deny the harms caused by their failed program.

The examples of decriminalization in other jurisdictions that this government used to point to as a roadmap are proving to be less than successful themselves, and recently, the state of Oregon has even started taking steps to roll back their decriminalization decision that led to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history.

And yet, the NDP here in B.C. remains defiant, refusing to follow the evidence and bring an end to this deadly experiment.

How many more lives need to be lost before government admits that its record on public safety is a catastrophic failure? How many communities need to declare a state of emergency or put in their own bylaws to fix the mess made by this provincial government?

People cannot afford to wait any longer. The safety and well-being of our communities depends on real action — sadly, it’s action I do not think this government is capable of delivering.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.