Bloc leader, MPs and farmers call for supply management bill to be passed

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.

He said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.

His new position on the issue comes after the parents of a 13-year-old girl from B.C. testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C.

They said their daughter was discharged from care despite their repeated attempts to keep her in treatment.

Poilievre says he’s still researching how mandatory treatment would work in the case of adults.

Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

The Saskatchewan NDP appears to be continuing its focus on health-care issues during the provincial election campaign, with party candidates set to hold press conferences today outside hospitals in three communities.

The party has press conferences scheduled outside hospitals in Yorkton, Rosthern and Melville.

The NDP has been pressing the Saskatchewan Party since the election campaign began last week over the state of the province’s health-care system, including staffing shortages, long wait times and overcapacity hospitals.

NDP Leader Carla Beck promised on Tuesday that if elected on Oct. 28, her government would spend more than $1 billion on health care in a plan that would aim to reduce wait times for treatment by focusing on hiring, training, recruiting and retaining workers.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe has said his government’s health-care plan that was announced two years ago is working and more than 1,300 recent nursing graduates have been hired, though he has acknowledged more work is needed.

Moe and Beck are both set to be in Saskatoon today for campaign events.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s Liberal leader says the province needs to move away from a “one size fits all model” if it wants to achieve growth and progress.

Speaking at an event organized by the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce and the University of New Brunswick, Susan Holt said on Tuesday that what may seem like a suitable model of development in one part of the province may not necessarily work for another because of differences in population, community and geography.

She says such growth can be achieved through partnerships with local communities, universities and governments to understand problems and “deliver a tailored program.”

Over the course of the evening, Holt also talked about public safety and immigration, issues that have generated animated discourse.

She says that if elected on Oct. 21, a Liberal government would partner with municipalities and community services to improve mental health supports and tackle crime.

The Progressive Conservative party has promised “harder and harder lines on crime” if it is re-elected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.