Poilievre would impose life sentences for trafficking more than 40 mg of fentanyl
By Canadian Press on February 5, 2025.
OTTAWA — A Conservative government would bring in mandatory life sentences for those convicted of trafficking, producing or exporting more than 40 mg of fentanyl, Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday.
“Let’s call fentanyl trafficking what it is: mass murder,” the Conservative leader told a news conference in Vancouver. He compared selling the drug to “spraying bullets into a crowd.”
The Conservatives also want traffickers caught with between 20 mg and 40 mg of the drug to be sentenced to a mandatory 15 years in prison.
To do that, Poilievre said he would repeal changes made to the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in 2022 that ended some mandatory minimum sentences and allowed for conditional sentences or diversion programs for simple possession convictions.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down a number of mandatory minimum penalties in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in a 2016 decision, after ruling they were unconstitutional.
Poilievre said he interprets the law differently.
“What I am proposing today is not only allowed under the Charter, it is required by the Charter,” he said.
He said “locking up the mass murderers that bring these drugs in” would protect Canadians’ Section 7 rights to life, liberty and the security of the person. He noted that 49,000 Canadians have died of opioid overdoses since 2016.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says two milligrams can kill a person. Health Canada says “a few grains” can be deadly.
Fentanyl trafficking has been in the spotlight since U.S. President Donald Trump took office threatening to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico because of what he said was the countries’ failure to keep the drug from entering the U.S.
He signed an executive order on Saturday that declared the flow of illegal drugs and migrants into the U.S. a national security risk, and used that emergency to order sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined Canada’s plan to boost border security and appoint a “fentanyl czar,” in two calls with Trump on Monday, the president reversed course and delayed the implementation of tariffs for a month.
Poilievre said that regardless of whether people agree with Trump’s rationale for threatening tariffs, Canada shouldn’t be taking action “just to please him.”
He also dismissed the Liberals’ move to appoint a “fentanyl czar” as “performative.”
The Conservative leader said action must be taken to protect Canadians from an overdose crisis.
“We will come to the rescue of victims and addicts, we will provide life-saving treatment,” Poilievre said. He pledged a Conservative government would “take people off the streets” and provide residential treatment, including sweat lodges for Indigenous people addicted to opioids.
He has said previously he would defund programs that provide prescribed narcotics to people facing a heightened risk of overdosing due to a toxic street drug supply.
Poilievre has been critical of the term “safer supply” and has said such programs allow users to sell prescribed alternatives like hydromorphone on the street.
The Conservative leader also has expressed support for the idea of mandatory, involuntary drug treatment for minors and people in prison.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2025.
David Baxter and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
25-24
Thank you President Trump for bringing back sanity in this opioid crisis! BC has been on a mad experiment since 2003, 22 years and is tangible proof that we need to get back to saying NO to drugs and give police the tools to reduce the drug trade and take back our country from Cartels and organized crime.
I am not sure if you meant 40 milligrams or 40 grams for a life sentence, but here are some facts from the US DEA site:
One Pill Can Kill – DEA https://www.dea.gov/onepill
Public Safety Alert – – –The latest DEA laboratory testing indicates 5 out of 10 pills tested in 2024 contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. This is down from 7 out of ten pills in 2023 and 6 out of ten pills in 2022.
Deadly Dose – – – 2mg, the amount on the tip of a pencil, can be enough to kill an average American.
–40 grams = 40,000 mg (milligrams) —
Lastly, there is no such thing as a safe supply! They all are killing addicts as addicts push the limits with the safe supply for a better ‘buzz’ they get from the illegal street drugs.
Hopefully the Conservatives will win the next election with a majority and we will see a dramatic reduction in fatal overdoses and the destruction of families, businesses and neighborhoods caused by this drug crisis.
I do not agree with President Trump on several issues, but his pressure for changes in the drug trade will be good for Canada and Canadians!