March 20, 2026 08:15 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Mamata unveils TMC candidate list for Bengal polls; to face Suvendu in Bhabanipur | ‘Not a one-day battle for me’: Mamata Banerjee on facing Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur | Mamata vs Suvendu: Bhabanipur set for high-voltage showdown | Barbaric: India condemns Pakistani airstrike on Kabul hospital | Middle East conflict: Israel says it killed key Iranian commander during overnight strike | Middle East on edge: Kataeb Hezbollah commander Abu Ali al-Askari killed | Middle East on edge: Kataeb Hezbollah commander Abu Ali al-Askari killed | Afghanistan claims Pakistani airstrike on Kabul hospital left 400 killed, Islamabad denies | ECI orders major reshuffle in Bengal police brass a day after poll announcement | 10 patients killed in fire at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack; staff injured

Canada's Liberals discuss policies on drugs, sex trade and pharmacare

| @indiablooms | Apr 21, 2018, at 12:50 pm

Ottawa, Apr 20 (IBNS): Liberal supporters had been reportedly pushing the Canadian government to take radical steps to solve the opioid crisis, decriminalize the purchase of sex and increase the accessibility of free medicines.

These views were aired by about 3,000 registered Liberal supporters who attended a session on the protection of the environment and economy growth at the Federal Liberal National Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, today, media reports said. 

In some cases, the federal government had been pushing back on a proposal to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs.

“Currently we treat patients as criminals and harm the very people we want to save,” Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said at a workshop on health and social policy today. “[Prohibition] doesn’t work, Canadians continue to use drugs and Canadians continue to die.”

Canada health minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said a number of necessary steps had been taken by the federal government to deal with the opioid crisis, including easing restrictions on methadone and prescription heroin.

“Canada and Portugal are two very different countries,” she told reporters. “It’s not about adopting one model and bringing it to Canada, we have to look at what can be effective and efficient for Canada.”

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.