Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The fate of the provincial government’s restrictions on public drug use will be decided through a constitutional challenge, after an unsuccessful attempt to appeal an injunction against the legislation. The BC Court of Appeal on Friday denied a bid from Crown prosecutors to appeal a December decision by the BC Supreme Court that imposed a three-month injunction on Bill 34 on the grounds that the law would cause “irreparable harm.” Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said he’s disappointed with the court’s decision. Premier David Eby said it’s common sense that if the government can regulate alcohol and tobacco, “surely we can put rules in place in relation to hard drugs". . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

When British Columbia’s drug decriminalization pilot project came into force earlier this year, only two-thirds of police officers had been trained in what that meant, The Tyee has learned This comes from a document accessed via a freedom of information request that laid out the meeting minutes of the province’s Mental Health Working Group back in January 2023 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

CHALLENGES TO NEW restrictions on public consumption of illicit drugs show just how far things have gotten out of whack in our society. Increasingly, it seems, those who indulge in antisocial behaviour receive favoured status. Bill 34, which came into effect as the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act last week, is the Eby government’s answer to complaints from multiple municipal councils about the unintended consequences of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. In effect, it’s an effort by the government to fix a problem it created. The three-year decriminalization pilot went into effect early in the year and is supposed to destigmatize hard drug use and encourage addicts to get help ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and former newspaper editor. He publishes the Armchair Mayor opinion website . Published with permission of author