Letter to the Editor – Bring Home Safe Hospitals 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

May 16, 2024 – Barrhead, AB 

Dear Editor, 

After nine years, once-safe hospitals in British Columbia are being destroyed by criminals and hard drugs – more evidence that Justin Trudeau’s radical experiment of decriminalizing hard drugs has failed. 

Recently, the BC Nurses Union rang the alarm bell, saying that patients and staff have been exposed to harmful, illegal drugs. The BC Nurses Union also reported that meth was being smoked in a unit just hours after the birth of a newborn baby. In northern British Columbia, the public health agency put out a memo telling hospital staff to allow patients to bring knives and other weapons into hospitals. 

While this hard drug decriminalization experiment has been limited to BC, other cities across the country have been asking for similar policies. With Trudeau in power, it may not be long before he extends these dangerous policies to Alberta and our hospitals.   

To fight this, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has announced the Safe Hospitals Act to protect our healthcare workers and first responders by keeping weapons, illicit drugs, and assaults committed out of our hospitals.  

The Safe Hospitals Act will create an aggravating factor for sentencing if a criminal has a weapon in a hospital and eliminate the federal Health Minister’s power to grant exemptions under s.56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act if the exemption would allow people to use dangerous illicit drugs like fentanyl and meth in hospitals. So even if Trudeau decriminalizes hard drugs across Canada, our hospitals and staff will be protected. 

Common Sense Conservative will keep doctors, nurses and patients safe.   

Arnold Viersen, MP  

Peace River – Westlock