Liberal leadership hopeful Mark Carney is facing swift blowback over apparent minimization of Canada’s fentanyl crisis, instead calling it a “challenge.”

“Fentanyl is an absolute crisis in the United States. It’s a challenge here, but it’s a crisis there,” he said Wednesday evening before supporters in Kelowna.

After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, nearly 50,000 Canadians have died of opioid overdoses, mostly attributed to fentanyl.

In 2020, when my son became a number amongst the almost 50,000 Canadians lost to fentanyl since 2016, it was not a “challenge.”

Burying your child is a crisis like no other you will face in your lifetime, not merely a challenge, you absolute ghoul. pic.twitter.com/98slDzpaFP

— Stacey (@StaceyMonette27) February 13, 2025

Conservative MP Tracy Gray for Kelowna-Lake Country says Carney is “out of touch” with the drug crisis, given his remarks.

“Carbon Tax Carney came to Kelowna to tell people they should ignore the damage caused by nine years of the Trudeau-Carney Liberals, to downplay the fentanyl crisis, and to promote his new and bigger shadow carbon tax that will make Canadians even poorer,” Gray said in an email to the Kelowna Courier.

“Over 2,200 British Columbians, six every day, died from overdoses last year,” she writes.

According to the Conservative Party of Canada, this happened under the purview of a “radical” NDP government in B.C. that “joined forces with the Liberals to legalize hard drugs across the province.” 

B.C. Premier David Eby, once an advocate for drug decriminalization, walked back his support for federal “safe supply” after heralding complaints of public disorder.

Andrew Scheer blasts Mark Carney for downplaying the fentanyl crisis in Canada that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

"Nearly 50,000 Canadians have lost their lives...as a direct result of the nine years of the Carney-Trudeau soft on drugs, soft on crime approach." pic.twitter.com/ZT6Dl8vgiH

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 14, 2025

The Public Health Agency granted British Columbia a subsection 56(1) exemption on January 31, 2023 for three years under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to decriminalize people who possessed up to 2.5 grams of heroin, crack, cocaine, fentanyl, MDMA and meth.

Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks earlier claimed that the policy "saves lives" and criticism of it is rooted in “stigma and fear” from the Official Opposition. Meanwhile, most Canadians oppose the policy with British Columbians referring to it as a major worry.

In Kelowna alone, the city has witnessed an explosion in overdoses and the establishment of a large homeless encampment. Among their unpopular policies include repealing mandatory minimums for drug traffickers.

From February 1, 2023, to May 7, 2024, overdose deaths in B.C. totalled 3,313, reported Blacklock’s. That surpassed the 2,843 deaths recorded in the 15 months before decriminalization, a 16.5% increase.

Her office did not cite any data to explain the increase in overdose deaths. “This is an extremely complex health crisis,” said the note Criticism That The Exemption Is Leading To More Overdose Deaths.

Premier Smith criticizes B.C.'s "safe supply" drug program in response to a question from Rebel News' Alex Dhaliwal about legally-obtained narcotics entering Alberta.

"I don't want anybody to think that there's any such thing as a safe supply of opioids," she says. pic.twitter.com/w1qqUyX7wu

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 2, 2024

“While our loved ones are dying, it was disgusting for Carney to say that 50,000 opioid deaths under the Carney-Trudeau Liberal government is not a crisis, but merely a ‘challenge’,” Gray said. 

The House of Commons on May 29, 2023 upheld the “safe supply” policy by a 209 to 113 vote. Poilievre sponsored a counter-motion to “redirect all funds from … hard drug programs to addiction treatment and recovery programs” that did not pass.

“He [Carney] should tell that to the thousands of mothers and fathers who have had their children die in their arms or alone in an alley as a result of deadly drugs like fentanyl,” Gray writes, including Stacey Monette, whose son passed away in 2020 from a fatal overdose. 

“Burying your child is a crisis like no other you will face in your lifetime, not merely a challenge, you absolute ghoul,” she wrote on social media.

The Trudeau government has committed more than $1 billion to address overdose fatalities since 2017, according to a December 2023 update detailing federal actions. This included more than $359.2 million allocated in Budget 2023 over five years for the renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy (CDSS).

PETITION: Fix Our Cities!

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Canada's urban centres are spiraling into decay and chaos, with rampant crime, open drug use, and rising poverty turning once-desirable cities into places of fear. From violent knife attacks on Toronto’s public transit to open-air drug markets in Vancouver, these cities are becoming unrecognizable and unsafe, especially for families. Homeless encampments now dominate public parks and playgrounds, where drug paraphernalia litters spaces meant for children. And it’s not just Toronto and Vancouver — cities across the country are suffering as law and order give way to failed progressive policies. Sign our petition and follow our reporters as we investigate the true causes behind this urban decay and reveal what the mainstream media won’t.

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