Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his government will fund recovery treatment for 50,000 Canadians affected by drug addiction, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh vows to implement national rent control if he is elected prime minister in the upcoming April 28 federal election. Liberal Leader Mark Carney has no public events scheduled on Sunday.
In his latest electoral promise on April 6, Poilievre pledged he would expand drug recovery programs by funding “lifesaving treatment for 50,000 of our loved ones trapped in the scourge of addiction.”
The Tory leader also promised to stop federal funding for opioids and to defund supervised injection sites, which he has called “drug dens.” For any remaining sites, he said he would ensure that they don’t operate within 500 metres of schools, daycares, playgrounds, parks, and seniors’ homes and that they comply with “strict new oversight rules that focus on pathways to treatment.”
“We lost 50,000 people in Canada to drug overdoses, more than died fighting for Canada in the Second World War, and thousands more continue to suffer, living in misery as fentanyl takes control of lives, every single death is an unspeakable tragedy,” Poilievre said during a campaign stop in New Westminster, B.C., one of the municipalities that make up Metro Vancouver.
“The least we can do is in their honour, save 50,000 more. Let their loss not be in vain.”
Federal health authorities have noted a dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths since tracking began in 2016. The latest statistics show 50,928 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in Canada reported between 2016 and September 2024.
Poilievre took aim at the Liberals at the press conference, accusing the minority government of being responsible for the drug crisis in the country. “They caused this crisis. They decriminalized crack, heroin, cocaine, illicit fentanyl,” he said.
Health Canada granted British Columbia a three-year exemption to the federal drug law, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, effective Jan. 31, 2023, to decriminalize possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs, including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The province thus became the first Canadian jurisdiction to decriminalize drug use as part of a three-year pilot project with the federal agency.
The move, however, soon backfired after a public outcry arose over concerns that the project was making the drug problem worse. In April 2024, the province asked Ottawa to amend its exemption, and a month later, the federal government approved B.C.’s request to recriminalize open drug use in public places.
In a video posted on social media on April 6, Poilievre said his government will budget $250 million a year for four years to tackle the addiction issue. This means providing an average of $20,000 per person for recovery treatment over the four-year period. The funding each treatment centre receives, however, will be given solely on a “result-based” approach.
“Treatment centres will be paid based on the number of people they help get sober and stay sober,” he said, noting that higher rates of funding would be provided for the “most difficult” cases, such as those facing long-term homelessness or multiple overdoses.
“Funds will be paid out gradually as people who receive treatment stay off drugs.”
Third-party validators will be brought in to confirm the success cases reported by treatment centres, said the Conservative leader.
“To get new treatment programs off the ground, upfront dollars will go to recovery centres who can attest to prior successes of getting people off drugs,” he added.
‘Dollar-for-Dollar’
To fund the program, Poilievre said in the video that his government will adopt a “dollar-for-dollar” rule, implementing measures that include “cutting taxpayer-funded unsafe supply drug programs,” “suing opioid manufacturers that caused the crisis in the first place,” and firing “bureaucrats who push taxpayer-funded drug handouts.”
“We will fund recovery not by raising taxes, printing money, or boosting deficits,” Poilievre said. “Pro-drug organizations will be banned from receiving federal funds.”
Poilievre reiterated that his Conservative government will treat fentanyl traffickers as “murderers.” He had promised to hand life sentences to major traffickers during a campaign stop in B.C. on March 28.
“Anyone caught trafficking over 40 milligrams, enough to kill 20 people, will face life in prison,” he repeated his stance on the issue in his April 6 video.
And to stop the flow of drugs, Poilievre said his government will strengthen the borders by adding at least 2,000 new border agents, using truck-mounted drone systems and surveillance towers that can detect border incursions, and installing scanners at all major land crossings and shipping ports that can see through the walls of shipping containers or vehicles to spot drugs.
“Simply put, we will help 50,000 Canadians recover and protect our communities by locking up traffickers, shutting down failed drug programs, and securing our borders,” he said.
Rent Control
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, during a campaign stop in Halifax on April 6, said he would implement national rent control should his party form government in the upcoming federal election.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh listens to testimonials at a coffee shop during a campaign stop in Halifax on April 6, 2025. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi
Singh said federal funding for housing in the provinces and municipalities will be “tied to laws being in place that protect the renters.”
“We want to see laws that put in place real rent control, laws that end fixed-term leases, laws that end renovictions and demovictions,” Singh told reporters. “So it’s conditional funding.”
In a press release posted the same day, the NDP said rent prices across Canada have more than doubled since 2015, and in January 2025, the average asking rent in Halifax hit $2,033 per month.
Among the measures the party outlined was the promise to ban corporate landlords from rent price-fixing and collusion, including the use of shared data platforms and coordinated pricing tools.
Jennifer Cowan and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.
Isaac Teo
Author
Isaac Teo is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.
