Federal NDP leadership debate hears pitch for drug decriminalization

VANCOUVER, (NEWS 1130) – As the marathon race to replace Thomas Mulcair as federal NDP leader ramps up, one candidate has told a debate in Vancouver that he wants to see the decriminalization of all drugs for personal use.

Jagmeet Singh, Guy Caron and Charlie Angus have made their final pitches to New Democrats at the York Theatre in East Vancouver. Niki Ashton is expecting twins in November and appeared by video feed because of flying restrictions related to her pregnancy.

Candidates were asked how to respond to the opioid crisis that’s ravaging British Columbia and wider Canada.

Jagmeet Singh has told party members he’s keen to see the decriminalization of all drugs for personal use.

Singh says it’s the healthcare system, not the criminal justice system, that should be dealing with the issue of drug use.

“People that are being charged with ‘personal possession of a controlled substance’ offences, these are people that are often folks that are addicted, people that have mental health issues or people that are in poverty,” he says.

“I think the first step is we need to move towards decriminalization and study the Portugal model. Beyond that, we’ll need to study what the next steps are. But we need to be bold and immediately look at this issue, which is an issue of poverty, an issue of health.”

Candidate Guy Caron says he’s interested in decriminalizing all drugs in small amounts.

“I’m open to it. I’m open to it, because repression doesn’t work.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has closed the door on decriminalizing illicit drugs to combat the overdose crisis, but BC’s addictions minister Judy Darcy says unprecedented deaths are a “wake-up call” to reconsider that stance.

Ashton says Canada should be looking at models of decriminalization, but immediate action on harm reduction is what’s really needed.

“We need to be speeding up our approval of safe injection sites. We need to be even working with those that are starting pop-up sites to respond to the immediate need.”

NDP leadership debate over in Vancouver #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/kUHSGt4bOC

— Ellen Coulter (@ellencoulter) September 10, 2017

There was considerable overlap between the four campaigns as the leadership hopefuls lambasted Trudeau’s Liberal government on everything from renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement to dealing with rising economic inequality and addressing climate change.

Candidates were also asked about the one best quality they hold for the role of Prime Minister.

“To be Prime Minister you have to be able to bring people together, ” Charlie Angus says. “We have to have a vision, we have to have fire, we have to have political backbone. But it has to be about bringing people together, it’s the fundamental principle of my whole career.”

Niki Ashton’s answer was passion.

“For me, politics is about passion, it’s about people and if you don’t have the fire in the belly there’s no point sticking around.”

Diversity issues also came up as Ashton commended Singh, who is Sikh, for his handling of a racist heckler who interrupted a town hall meeting.

A viral video of the incident shows a woman accusing Singh of promoting Shariah law and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, as Singh tells her he supports her and will not be intimidated by hate.

This was the final debate before online voting begins on September 18th. The first ballot results will be announced in Toronto on October 1st. If no candidate receives the majority of the vote, the second and third round results will be announced later in October.