Chatham-Kent’s Mayor is joining his colleagues across the province in calling on upper levels of government to decriminalize drugs.
Ontario’s Big City Mayors say that while the provincial government is responsible for funding and coordinating mental health and addictions supports, all levels of government have a role to play in improving services for our residents.
Darrin Canniff is the co-chair of the group’s mental health working committee, and says decriminalizing controlled substances will improve the lives of those struggling with addiction.
“The federal government has taken evidence-based action before and we are asking them to do it again by decriminalizing controlled substances to enhance public safety and save lives,” Canniff says. “The OBCM caucus is eager to collaborate with the federal government on how we better improve people’s lives who are struggling with substance use and reduce societal trauma associated with deaths.”
Ontario’s Big City Mayors, formerly known as the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario, includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more.
