| DRUG USE HITS NEAR CRISIS LEVEL IN NATIONAL CAPITAL |
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| Sunday, 20 April 2008 19:00 |
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MPP LISA MACLEOD URGES PREMIER TO MEET POLICE CHIEF (QUEEN’S PARK)- Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod has once again raised Ottawa’s drug problem in the legislature and urged the Premier to meet with Ottawa Police Chief to discuss solutions to what is now a national embarrassment of drug problems on Ottawa’s streets. “Despite numerous requests last year, both during the election and after, the Premier has never spoken with Chief Vern White,” stated MacLeod. “This Liberal government’s philosophy is simply to pass out crack pipes and exchange needles.” MacLeod agrees with the Police Chief that a drug rehabilitation centre is key to cutting off the flow of drugs. MacLeod urged the Premier to meet with the Police Chief to discuss the best way to get crack off the streets and immediately commit to a residential drug treatment facility in Eastern Ontario. “Drug use has hit near crisis level, the Premier needs to meet with Chief White and work out a solution to cleanup our national capital,” stated MacLeod. MacLeod first raised this issue on March 17th in the Legislature. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO HANSARD Monday 21 April 2008 Drug offences Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is for the Premier. Despite numerous requests last year, both during the election and after the Legislature resumed, the Premier has refused to meet with Ottawa police chief Vern White regarding the near-crisis level of drug use, particularly of crack, in the national capital, our own backyard. Through you, Mr. Speaker, will the Premier be calling Ottawa police chief Vern White this week to discuss solutions to what is now a national embarrassment in our hometown which is the drug problem on Ottawa streets? Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I’m more than happy to meet with my chief, but I can tell you that I have assigned responsibility for this on the ground in Ottawa to Minister Watson. He’s met with the chief, I think on at least three occasions now. The chief has a very real concern shared by many of us in Ottawa, and that has to do with the adequacy of treatment opportunities for young people who are affected by drug addictions. So, with that in mind, we came to the table with $25,000 and we are co-funding a study together with the city of Ottawa. We’re waiting for that report, and on the basis of advice that will flow from the report, we look forward to laying out an action plan. Again, I know the chief has a real and genuine concern about this, as do I. Ms. Lisa MacLeod: With respect to the Premier, you are the MPP for Ottawa South. I appreciate the work that the member from Ottawa West–Nepean is doing, but he’s not the Premier of Ontario, and he’s not the chief political lead in this House, you are. On March 17, I raised the need for a drug treatment centre in Ottawa in this House. Since then, a report has been released recommending the same. While this government’s philosophy is simply to pass out crack pipes and exchange needles, Ottawa police suggest we must prevent, then rehabilitate, before harm reduction and enforcement. They, too, support a drug treatment facility. Again, will the Premier meet with police chief Vern White to immediately implement solutions to get crack off the streets in Canada’s capital, and immediately commit to a residential drug treatment facility for eastern Ontario drug addicts? Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I’ll extend this to Minister Watson. Hon. Jim Watson: This is an important issue in our community, there’s no question about that. The reason why, in my former capacity as Minister of Health Promotion, I secured the funding—one half of the funding for the study, we were the first at the table and the mayor of Ottawa and city council approved the second half of the funding. We have been meeting, and I’ve met, as the Premier indicated, on a number of occasions with the chief, as well as with mayor O’Brien and Dr. Rob Cushman. Because as the member knows, the LHIN is taking the lead in putting together the report, we anticipate having a report within the next couple of weeks at the LHIN board. As Minister Smitherman has indicated on a number of occasions, as has the Premier, we’re very much committed to ensuring that there will be a residential youth drug rehabilitation centre in the city of Ottawa. We want to get it right. We want to make sure we have the right plan for our community to deal with this terrible situation— |