Bob Mackin
According to former central banker Mark Carney, who could become Prime Minister-designate on March 9, Canada’s tragic fentanyl death toll is a challenge, not a crisis.
Carney raised eyebrows on social media for his aggressive pledge at a Feb. 12 Liberal leadership campaign tour stop in Kelowna to “use all of the powers of the federal government” to accelerate major federal projects in the shadow of Donald Trump’s trade threats.
“Including the emergency powers of the federal government,” Carney said. He did not elaborate on the potential use of the Emergencies Act.
However, earlier in his speech, he referred to the tragic outcome of fentanyl abuse and addiction across Canada as only a “challenge.”
“Look, fentanyl is an absolute crisis in the United States,” Carney said. “It’s a challenge here, but it’s a crisis there, and us doing what we can to help them with that is absolutely appropriate.”
Crisis is the word used throughout Public Health Agency of Canada websites. As of last summer, 49,105 people died in Canada from “apparent opioid toxicity” since January 2016.
In British Columbia, the government declared a public health emergency in 2016. The Ministry of Health said 2,253 people died in B.C. in 2024, a rate of more than six per day.
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