Ryan Kiedrowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The World-Spectator
Legislation around illegal drugs may ultimately fall under federal government jurisdiction, but there are some measures provinces can take within those confines. Recently, the Saskatchewan government announced measures to help protect communities from drug trafficking and street use with a specific target on fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Last fall, a Statistics Canada data sheet noted the City of Prince Albert as having the highest amount of meth per capita in its wastewater. Between March, 2022 and May 2023, researchers found between 925 and 2,406 mg of meth per thousand per day in that city’s sewage. The next highest levels were found in Saskatoon with a range from 586 to 1,147 mg of meth per one thousand people per day (testing done from Aug. 2022 to Nov. 2023).
“The federal government still retains jurisdiction over the criminal law and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act,” said provincial Justice Minister and Attorney General Tim McLeod. “We have been lobbying them repeatedly and forcefully with our neighbours. Alberta and even Quebec has recently jumped in to really say to the federal government, ‘look, you’ve got to take a firmer stance on drug crime and drug prosecutions.’
“We have written to our federal counterpart a few times in that regard, and will continue to do so, because that’s their jurisdiction, and something that we are strongly advocating that they take a firmer stance on so that we have prosecution of all drug related crime and really stop being so lax on offences that are causing significant harm to our communities.”
Reports of significant drug busts seem to also litter the headlines, including the culmination of a four-month investigation on Feb. 20 and 21. That bust saw five people arrested and charged, an estimated $1.5 million in illegal drugs seized (7.5 kg of fentanyl, 476 g of cocaine, and 22 g of meth), and eight search warrants executed in the communities of Regina, Alameda, and Frobisher.
Topping the province’s new measures are higher fines for drug trafficking, up to $1 million in certain cases.
“Secondly, to target the drug traffickers with significant penalties that will help disrupt and deter the drug trade, and then finally, helping those who may be battling addiction connect with the appropriate and necessary supports and resources that they need to get them on a path to recovery,” McLeod said of the new measures.
Drugs in small towns
Small towns across the province see their fair share of drug dealers who seem to operate carefree in many places. Fear of retribution is one motivating factor for regular citizens to keep quiet with what they witness, but it allows the illegal trade to continue unabated. McLeod said some new measures are going to make it less comfortable for those who sell drugs to continue their activities.
“The first thing that we’re offering at a provincial level is increased strength of police force,” he said. “We’ve committed to funding more RCMP officers, if the federal government will send them to us through that process, and in the meantime, we have committed to adding another 100 municipal police officers and adding to the Saskatchewan Marshall service, which will add 70 more boots to the ground in terms of policing.”
He also highlighted the importance of arming those officers with as many tools as possible to help increase public safety.
“What we’ve done in this recent announcement is really, again, focusing on a couple of things,” McLeod explained. “First of all, helping the police remove the dangerous drugs and the activity from the community and the public spaces, but then also targeting those drug traffickers with significant penalties.”
Steps have also been taken regarding the removal of dangerous drugs and associated activities.
“We’re allowing police officers through the Safe Public Spaces Act that’s on the floor of the Legislature, and will be debated this spring, to simply remove if they find an individual in a public space or semi-public space, carrying a machete or drugs of the nature that we’re talking about here—fentanyl, methamphetamine, that sort of thing,” McLeod said. “Or even syringes that are not for a medical purpose, the police can simply apprehend those and take those out of their hands and seize them without needing to necessarily lay a charge. If they do choose to lay a charge, that’s at police discretion. But in a lot of cases, the police simply want to just make the situation safer for the public and giving them the ability to simply remove those items from the equation does that.”
Property trespass changes
Another enhanced measure will give police more power to remove trespassers that may be unsafe to the community.
“The second piece in that space would be our changes to the trespass to property regulations, where police can now remove somebody as a trespasser from a semi-public space if they’re doing something that the police deemed to be unsafe or a nuisance to the community,” McLeod said, providing an example to illustrate the point. “Previously, if somebody was maybe using drugs in a bathroom at a restaurant, the police would need the owner of that facility to ask them to remove this trespasser. Now, we’re changing those regulations to allow the police to simply determine on their own that this person is trespassing in a semi-public space, and they can remove that individual so that there’s no fear of retribution from the business owner, from the community member who maybe would otherwise have had to previously contact the police and make that request.”
Drug use and other disruptive activities in semi-public places would be considered trespassing under the updated Trespass to Property Regulations.
“We want to make sure that the community is feeling safe and that those dangerous situations can be removed at the discretion of the police with all the flexibility that we can offer them,” says McLeod.
The new measures also promise to prioritize drug-related offences, holding offenders accountable as part of the Warrant Intelligence Team’s work to not only ensure public safety, but also disrupt illegal drug activity. An example of this includes suspending government benefits to those offenders. Policies are slated to be implemented to cancel provincial licenses as well for those convicted of drug-related crimes including driver’s licenses, provincial firearm licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, and in certain circumstances even business and municipal licenses.
Caught, now what?
Once offenders are caught, the question them becomes ‘what do we do with them?’ Under the new measures, the Fine Option program, which allows offenders to receive credit against their court-imposed fines if they attend addictions programming, will be re-examined. While a positive concept on paper, in many cases the offender does not have a sincere desire to recover, jumping through hoops to return to their lifestyle.
“I’ve said many times, you can’t drag somebody down the road to recovery. They have to walk that path by choice,” McLeod explained. “Making sure that we have the supports available to meet somebody where they’re at when they’re ready to choose to walk that path, I think, is an important piece.”
A large part of this endeavour is the Complex Needs Emergency Shelters that have been piloted in Regina and Saskatoon—medically supported facilities that provide a safe space for people who are intoxicated or a threat to themselves or others.
“Police are able to apprehend those people temporarily under the Summary Offences Procedure Act, which allows them to be detained up to 24 hours, and they can bring them to one of those facilities where they’re met by nurses, by counsellors, social workers who can help them overcome the immediate state that they’re in which puts themselves or others at risk,” McLeod explained. “But then more importantly, connect them with the resources that they need, that they were maybe struggling to find on their own. And we’re seeing huge success with those. Those two resources in Saskatoon and Regina—the police services are being very vocal about what a great asset that is for our communities to be able to find somebody who’s battling an addiction and not have to choose between putting them in jail or putting them in an emergency room—neither of which is the most appropriate place for them in that moment.”
Responding to the overwhelming need for more treatment spaces in general has been an objective for the government over the last couple of years. Spaces across the province like the Eagle Sky Healing Lodge on Kahkewistahaw First Nation and the Ochapowace Nêhiyawêwin Land-Based Recovery & Wellness Centre are a couple local examples of the plan coming to fruition.
“When it comes to addiction treatment, our government announced our action plan on mental health and addictions in the fall of 2023 and have made significant strides to more than double the number of addiction treatment spaces in our province, adding 500 new addition addiction treatment spaces,” McLeod said. “Those will be in a variety of communities across the province and in a variety of delivery methods. Some will be inpatient treatment, some will be outpatient. Some are virtual spaces and some are detox or withdrawal management. Whatever place an individual finds themselves on that path to recovery, we want to make sure that we can meet them where they’re at and provide the services that they need.”
