B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has laid out his solutions for the toxic drug crisis in the province, which include cutting wait times for voluntary treatment, a virtual program to connect people with addiction specialists and building "regional recovery communities" that would allow for 12-month live-in treatment.
He says his party plans to hold overdose prevention sites accountable to make sure they are "meeting the highest standards" and if not, his government would not hesitate to shut them down.
Rustad says if a Conservative government were elected after Oct. 19, he would ensure there are "no financial barriers to detox and treatment."
He didn't say how long the plan would take or what the cost would be, saying his party would be laying out its full platform "within the coming days."
Rustad made the announcement at the site of Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, a provincially-owned psychiatric institution that had been in operation for more than 100 years before it closed in 2012.
Though the property is currently the subject of an Indigenous land claim, Rustad says his party wants to redevelop the site as a "leading centre of excellence in Canada for mental health care and addictions recovery, including secure treatment."
The party's platform announcement comes as leaders of British Columbia's three major political parties are set to debate the key issues of the provincial election on all major TV networks tonight.
The only televised debate of the election campaign will gives viewers a chance to size up the leaders and their policies with less than two weeks to go before election day on Oct. 19.
Rustad, NDP Leader David Eby, and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau will make their case from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the event that is being moderated by Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl.
Rustad said at an event in Vancouver Monday that he was expecting "more of the same" from Eby at the debate, accusing him of attacking the Conservatives as individuals, rather than over their policies.
Eby says his message will be straight forward for an NDP vote for those concerned about affordability, health care, and safer communities, unlike Rustad's proposals that side with the billionaires in the province.
A sign put up by Lululemon co-founder Chip Wilson outside his $81-million home that referred to the NDP as "communists" was vandalized over the weekend and has now been replaced, saying Eby gives away money he has already taken from voters.
Rustad issued a statement on social media last night saying that a B.C. Conservative government would not be giving billionaires special tax breaks.
