Ottawa Hospital seeks surveillance for 'safer' supply drug diversion
Canadian taxpayers are now saddled with both the rising costs of funding the "safer" drug supply program and the additional expense of monitoring it through drug diversion tracking.
The Ottawa Hospital has issued a contract posting for Drug Diversion Surveillance Solutions, signalling a troubling admission that their “safer” supply program is leaking highly addictive opioids onto the streets.
Sold to the public as a way to curb overdoses and “reduce harm,” taxpayers are already on the hook for the Liberal government’s $1.5 billion National Drug Strategy.
The three-year monitoring contract aims to track pharmaceutical-grade drugs like hydromorphone and fentanyl, distributed through the hospital’s “safer” supply initiative, to determine where they’re ending up when they are inevitably diverted onto the streets.
These potent substances, intended to provide a “regulated” alternative for addicts, are instead fueling black markets and organized crime. Critics have long warned that lax oversight and a lack of recovery-focused support would lead to diversion, a reality the hospital now tacitly acknowledges.
The contract reveals a stark contradiction in the government’s harm reduction narrative. Promoted as a life-saving measure, the “safer” supply program has coincided with rising overdoses and addiction rates. Data from Health Canada shows that the “percentage of opioid-related poisoning hospitalizations has increased by 100% since 2018.”
As a result, communities increasingly report open-air drug markets proliferating through the streets.
Taxpayers are left funding both the drugs and the surveillance to track their misuse, calling the program’s efficacy into question.
The Ottawa Hospital’s move follows years of pushback from skeptics who argued that distributing addictive substances without robust recovery pathways was a recipe for disaster. Last year, Canada’s state broadcaster downplayed diversion concerns, but the hospital’s contract posting dismantles those claims.
The Liberal government’s $1.5 billion strategy, now in its seventh year, was meant to innovate drug policy. Instead, it’s drawn fire for prioritizing ideology over results. Addiction specialists argue the funds would be better spent on rehabilitation, mental health support, or cracking down on illicit trade.
As the Ottawa Hospital scrambles to contain the fallout, Canadians are left grappling with the human cost — friends, family, and neighbours lost to addiction. The contract may track diverted drugs, but it leaves the root issue ignored: a policy that is failing communities.
With the surveillance deal set to launch next year, perhaps it’s time to divert funding from the “safer” supply experiment and invest in solutions that truly save lives.
Featured Stories
54:01
COMMENTS
-
Bruce Atchison commented 2025-06-27 19:21:41 -0400Reprobate minds think “safer supply” is great. Look at the damage their idiotic idea has done to society! Only a lunatic would think handing out opiates is a wonderful way to stop overdoses.
