British Columbia Premier David Eby said the province does not intend to move to a model where health professionals “are not directly involved” when people use “toxic drugs.”Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press
British Columbia Premier David Eby said there is “zero percent” chance the province will implement provincial health officials’ recommendation that alternatives to opioids and other street drugs should be available without a prescription.
Eby said he has “tremendous respect” for Dr. Bonnie Henry, who has saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, but added that it’s OK to disagree from time to time.
The premier said at a press conference on Friday that his position was “non-negotiable” and that British Columbia has no intention of moving to a model in which health professionals “are not directly involved” when people use “harmful and toxic drugs.”
Henry said Thursday that the drug prohibition strategy has not only failed to control access to controlled substances, it has created an unregulated and toxic drug supply that has claimed more than 14,000 lives since a health emergency was declared in B.C. eight years ago.
Her report found that more than 225,000 people in British Columbia use uncontrolled drugs, fentanyl remains the leading cause of death, and 83 per cent of illicit drug deaths involve opioids.
Henry said distribution of safer supply medicines through prescriptions faces “barriers and challenges” posed by limited capacity in the system, and B.C. cannot get out of the crisis through prescriptions alone.
The report coincides with findings by former chief medical examiner Lisa Lapointe, who said before leaving office in January that prescribing safer supplies of the drugs would not solve the crisis.
Eby said Friday that Public Health has an important role to play and needs to remain independent.
But he said this was not the first recommendation the government had ignored. He pointed to public health recommendations to raise speed limits to 30 kilometres per hour in urban areas and increase alcohol prices to reduce health hazards.
“You can see from this list that sometimes there’s a gap between what public health officials think is best and the political reality,” he said. “We’re not going to lower the speed limit to 30 kilometres per hour across British Columbia. That’s not going to happen.”
He said it was the government’s role to balance “the liveability of communities and protecting people”.
“I always respect and appreciate Dr. Henry’s advice, but that doesn’t mean I always follow it.”
In a written response to Henry’s report on Thursday, the Conservatives said the party was calling for his “immediate dismissal” and that his recommendations were “deeply disturbing,” “shocking” and “irresponsible.”
Eby contrasted Conservative Leader John Rustad’s calls on Friday to fire Henry over the report with Henry’s support for public health workers who refuse to be vaccinated.
“I think it’s just bizarre that we would fire people who have done such a great job for us and led us through the pandemic and then try to reward people who refuse to get vaccinated instead,” Eby said. “That’s a totally different, totally different position than where we are.”
