From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

“Criminalizing the possession of drugs for personal  use leads to discrimination and stigma, and contributes to people hiding their drug use from their  physicians, friends, family, colleagues, and community”

The City of Toronto is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to decriminalize hard drugs. 

In a March letter, Toronto city officials appealed to the Trudeau government to legalize all quantities of crack, cocaine, heroin, meth, and other hard drugs, despite warnings that it will bring increased chaos and violence to the city. Its reasoning is that people look askance at drug abuse and drug abusers, who then attempt to hide their habit.  

“The evidence demonstrates that criminalizing the possession of drugs for personal  use leads to discrimination and stigma, and contributes to people hiding their drug use from their  physicians, friends, family, colleagues, and community,” the document claimed.  

The letter, penned by Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa, City Manager Paul Johnson, and Chief of Police Myron Demkiw requested that the Trudeau government decriminalize hard drugs for young people as well as adults. The application places no limit on the quantity of drugs which would be legally obtained. 

Toronto is already seeing a rise in crime since the election of Toronto mayor Olivia Chow. Canadians have pointed out that Toronto is dealing with several issues, without adding the decriminalization of hard drugs,  

“Trudeau must reject Toronto’s application to allow public use of crack, cocaine, heroin, & other hard drugs,” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“His dangerous policy cannot bring the same chaos, death & destruction to more Canadian cities,” he added.  

Trudeau must reject Toronto's application to allow public use of crack, cocaine, heroin, & other hard drugs.

His dangerous policy cannot bring the same chaos, death & destruction to more Canadian cities. pic.twitter.com/hG5h9lsWPq

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 1, 2024

Poilievre’s condemnation was echoed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford who promised, “I will fight this tooth and nail. This is the wrong way to go.” 

Poilievre further explained that Canadians have already seen the dystopian effects of the decriminalization of hard drugs in British Columbia, which “has caused chaos in hospitals, playgrounds, parks, and public transport.” 

READ: British Columbia should allow addicts to possess even more drugs, federal report suggests

Beginning in early 2023, Trudeau’s federal policy, in effect, decriminalized hard drugs on a trial-run basis in British Columbia.    

Under the policy, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime.  

The province’s drug policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect.  

Last week, BC Premier David Eby finally admitted that the province’s ‘safe supply’ program was a failure and called on the Trudeau government to reverse the program. However, Trudeau has yet to respond to the province’s appeal for help.  

“Safe supply“ is the term used to refer to government-prescribed drugs that are given to addicts under the assumption that a more controlled batch of narcotics reduces the risk of overdose. Critics of the policy argue that giving addicts drugs only enables their behavior, puts the public at risk, and disincentivizes recovery from addiction. Where “safe supply” has been implemented, it has not reduced the number of overdose deaths. It has sometimes even increased it. 

The effects of decriminalizing hard drugs in parts of Canada have been exposed in Aaron Gunn’s recent documentary Canada is Dying, and in the British Telegraph journalist Steven Edginton’s mini-documentary, Canada’s Woke Nightmare: A Warning to the West.    

Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”    

“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”  

Even Liberals have begun admitting that Trudeau’s drug program has not helped addicts but only added to their problems.   

In April, Liberal MP Dr. Marcus Powlowski testified that violence from drug users has become a problem in Ottawa, especially in areas near the so-called “safe supply” centres which operate within blocks of Parliament Hill.     

“A few months ago I was downtown in a bar here in Ottawa, not that I do that very often, but a couple of colleagues I met up with, one was assaulted as he was going to the bar, [and] another one was threatened,” said Powlowski.    

“Within a month of that, I was returning down Wellington Street from downtown, the Rideau Centre, and my son who is 15 was coming after me,” he continued. “It was nighttime, and there was someone out in the middle of the street, yelling and screaming, accosting cars.”   

RELATED: Liberal MP blasts Trudeau-backed ‘safe supply’ drug programs, linking them to ‘chaos’ in cities

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Author: Jay Goldberg

Trudeau and Ford bragged about how a $5 billion giveaway to Honda is going to generate 1,000 jobs. In case you’re thinking of doing the math, that’s $5 million per job.

Politicians are rolling the dice on the electric vehicle industry with your money.

If they bet wrong, and there’s a good chance they have, hardworking Canadians will be left holding the bag.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford announced a $5-billion agreement with Honda, giving another Fortune 500 automaker a huge wad of taxpayer cash.

Then Trudeau released a video on social media bragging about “betting big” on the electric vehicle industry in Canada. The “betting” part of Trudeau’s statement tells you everything you need to know about why this is a big mistake.

Governments should never “bet” with taxpayer money. That’s the reality of corporate welfare: when governments give taxpayer money to corporations with few strings attached, everyday Canadians are left hoping and praying that politicians put the chips on the right numbers.

And these are huge bets.

When Trudeau and Ford announced this latest giveaway to Honda, the amount of taxpayer cash promised to the electric vehicle sector reached $57 billion. That’s more than the federal government plans to spend on health care this year.

Governments should never gamble with taxpayer money and there are at least three key reasons why this Honda deal is a mistake.

First, governments haven’t even proven themselves capable of tracking how many jobs are created through their corporate welfare schemes.

Trudeau and Ford bragged about how a $5 billion giveaway to Honda is going to generate 1,000 jobs. In case you’re thinking of doing the math, that’s $5 million per job.

Five million dollars per job is already outrageous. But some recent reporting from the Globe and Mail shows why corporate welfare in general is a terrible idea.

The feds don’t even have a proper mechanism for verifying if jobs are actually created after handing corporations buckets of taxpayer cash. So, while 1,000 jobs are promised through the Honda deal, the government isn’t capable of confirming whether those measly 1,000 jobs will materialize.

Second, betting on the electric vehicle industry comes with risk.

Trudeau and Ford gave the Ford Motor Company nearly $600 million to retool a plant in Oakville to build electric cars instead of gasoline powered ones back in 2020. But just weeks ago, Ford announced plans to delay the conversion for another three years, citing slumping electric vehicle sales.

Look into Ford’s quarterly reports and the danger of betting on electric vehicles becomes clear as day: Ford’s EV branch lost $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Reports also show Ford lost $130,000 on every electric vehicle sold.

The decline of electric vehicle demand isn’t limited to Ford. In the United States, electric vehicle sales fell by 7.3 per cent between the last quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.

Even Tesla’s sales were down 13 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2023.

A Bloomberg headline from early April read “Tesla’s sales miss by the most ever in brutal blow for EVs.”

There’s certainly a risk in betting on electric vehicles right now.

Third, there’s the question of opportunity cost. Imagine what else our governments could be doing with $57 billion?

For about the same amount of money, the federal government could suspend the federal sales tax for an entire year. The feds could also use $57 billion to double health-care spending or build 57 new hospitals.

The solution for creating jobs isn’t to hand a select few companies buckets of cash just to lure them to Canada. Politicians should be focusing on creating the right environment for any company, large or small, to grow without a government handout.

To do that, Canada must be more competitive with lower business taxes, less red tape and more affordable energy. That’s a real recipe for success that doesn’t involve gambling with taxpayer cash.

It’s time for our politicians to kick their corporate welfare addiction. Until they do, Canadians will be left paying the price.