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Come clean on consumption site, Yukon Party is told

The territorial Liberals say voters should know whether the Yukon Party agrees with the federal Conservatives’ pledge to ban supervised consumption sites if they win the 2025 federal election.

The Liberal caucus said Tuesday it’s proud of the Yukon government’s establishment of the supervised consumption site at Blood Ties Four Directions in downtown Whitehorse. Its hours of operation have been expanded to seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“Doctors, researchers, and harm reduction professionals unanimously agree that supervised consumption sites prevent overdose deaths, provide drug checking services, and offer pathways to supports and treatment,” the Liberals said. “Yukoners deserve to know where their political leaders stand on the use of these harm reduction facilities here in our territory.”

During May’s Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) conference in Dawson City, the Liberal caucus said, Melissa Lantsman, the Conservatives’ deputy leader, “delivered a politically-charged speech that would have been more appropriate for a Pierre Poilievre rally, not a meeting of municipal leaders and non-partisan government officials discussing opportunities to better work together for Yukoners.”

“Throughout her remarks, Lantsman espoused ideology over science, saying that:

‘The Ottawa-knows-best machine of how to treat addiction simply just hasn’t worked .… I think it’s okay to say that it’s one of the most insane policies of our life, we continue the feeding of taxpayer-funded drugs into communities where people don’t have shot at getting better, I think will go down in history as one of the most recent things that can lead to change it will be to change that.’”

The tone of Lantsman’s speech prompted several delegates at the AYC convention, including NDP Leader Kate White, to walk out of the room. 

The Liberals noted Tuesday the current Yukon Party chief of staff sits on the federal Conservative Party’s National Council, and that Lantsman arrived at the AYC meeting and left immediately after her speech with Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon.

“The Yukon Party has repeatedly voted against funding Blood Ties Four Directions, as well as funding to increase drug treatment options for Yukoners, focusing instead on funding the RCMP,

which they also voted again,” the Liberal caucus said. “Additionally, de-facto Yukon Party leader Brad Cathers has repeatedly criticized the Government of Yukon for emphasizing the importance of harm reduction.

“Yukoners deserve to know where the Yukon Party stands on supervised consumption sites … (which) save lives, connect people to social services, and are pathways to treatment.”

As of February 2024, there had been more than 11,300 visits to the supervised consumption site since it opened in Whitehorse in September 2021.

The Yukon Party said later Tuesday the Liberals’ remarks “clearly show Premier Ranj Pillai and his government are more focused on attacking the Yukon Party than on governing the territory.

“The Yukon Party believes that the number one goal of any substance abuse action plan should be to help as many people as possible break their addictions, and live free from the risk of overdose. We support effective harm reduction programs as part of efforts to address the substance use crisis in the territory.”

Under the leadership of Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee, the official Opposition said, “the Liberal government continues to drag its feet on the substance use emergency. They were quick to declare a substance use emergency in January of 2022 – but then waited more than a year and half to release a strategy that included 43 recommended actions, and no clear timelines. When they released the strategy, the minister said that 14 of the 43 actions were priorities but was unable to say what those 14 were.”

What is needed, the Yukon Party said, is a greater focus on prevention, treatment and enforcement. As well, more resources are needed for addictions treatment and mental health, “with targeted enforcement to take the drug dealers selling toxic drugs off our streets.

“Yukoners are tired of the Liberals trying to ignore the fact their government is out of steam, out of ideas, and neglecting the concerns of Yukoners,” the official Opposition said.

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