Ottawa rejects decriminalization plan

Federal government says proposal fails to protect public health, lacks provincial support

- ALYSHAH HASHAM, ROB FERGUSON

Before Ottawa's rejection, Premier Doug Ford called on the federal government to conduct a formal review of existing safe consumption sites in the province.

The federal government has rejected Toronto's request to decriminalize drug possession for personal use, ending weeks of sparring between three levels of government.

Toronto's proposal "does not adequately protect public health and maintain public safety. This includes concerns with feasibility and ability for law enforcement to implement the proposed model, protection of youth, and lack of support from key players including the Province of Ontario," said a statement released late Friday by Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks.

Premier Doug Ford posted a oneword response on X: "Good."

The federal minister's statement comes one day after Ontario's health minister Sylvia Jones sent a scathing letter to Toronto's medical officer of health calling the decriminalization plan "dangerous" and "misguided."

In a second letter, this time to the federal government on Friday, Ford added: "We do not, and never will, support their application to decriminalize illegal drugs. Please consider this our formal confirmation to the federal government that we are 100 per cent opposed."

Despite the province's position, Toronto's medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa and Board of Health chair Chris Moise continued to back the "made-in-Toronto" plan, which differs from the B.C. decriminalization pilot by not setting limits on the amount of drugs that constitute personal use and extending decriminalization to youth. The plan included a range of responses to the toxic drug crisis, in addition to decriminalization.