Years ago, my lifelong Conservative father-in-law was holding his grandson when he said supervised consumption sites “just enable drug use.” I replied, “That's a dumb comment to make while holding your grandson. He might not be alive if one hadn't saved my life and connected me to recovery.” You should have seen his face when I said that. 😳 “Whoops. I didn't think that through.” So I arranged a tour. He met the nurses, saw the care, the detox upstairs, and the connections to recovery. He walked in believing these places enabled addiction, he walked out understanding they save lives. Today, he's one of their biggest supporters. Not because he abandoned his Conservative values, but because he realized compassion, dignity and keeping people alive were never at odds with them. He didn't just change his opinion. He became an advocate for the very people he'd once dismissed.

This shouldn't be hard for people to understand. More police doesn't reduce addiction. More police doesn't reduce mental illness. More police doesn't reduce homelessness. More police doesn't reduce poverty. More housing, more healthcare, more treatment, more outreach, more resources and more support does. That's how you build safer, healthier communities.

Imagine 1 in 8 alcoholic drinks contains a lethal contaminant that kills instantly. Unfortunately, for the 18% of Canadians with alcohol use disorder, it’s not enough of a risk to stop them from drinking. Would the answer be forced alcohol treatment? OR, and stay with me here, WOULD WE FIX THE CONTAMINATED ALCOHOL SUPPLY? Treatment might help some people stop drinking, it won’t stop the next contaminated drink from killing someone. You can’t treat your way out of a poisoned supply.