Âé¶čAV-Lake Country Conservative MP Tracy Gray has called out federal Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney for comments he made about fentanyl and the carbon tax during a stop in Âé¶čAV on Feb. 12.
âCarbon Tax Carney came to Âé¶čAV 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,â Gray said in a statement.
During his speech to Liberal supporters, Carney addressed U.S. President Donald Trumpâs demands that Canada stem what he claimed was the threat of fentanyl and illegal aliens crossing the border.
âItâs a challenge here, but itâs a crisis there,â Carney said. âUs doing what we can to help them with that is absolutely appropriate. Securing our borders is in our interests as much as it is in theirs.â
Grayâs statement said that more than 2,200 British Columbians - six every day - died from overdoses last year. She added it was disgusting for Carney to say that 50,000 opioid deaths (in Canada since 2016) under the Carney-Trudeau Liberal government is not a crisis, but merely a âchallengeâ.â
âHe 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,â Gray added. âHe should tell that to the first responders and health care workers who are on the front lines of the fentanyl crisis every day.â
Gray also took Carney to task over the carbon tax and what she called the inflationary policies he was the architect of as Trudeauâs handpicked economic advisor. âInstead, all he could talk about is how much he loves his new and bigger shadow carbon tax policy which will drive up the cost of everything even more,â she said.
During his Âé¶čAV stop, Carney said the consumer carbon tax is a âgood idea on paper, put into action with good intentions, but something thatâs become very divisive in our country.â
Grayâs statement said âCarney will only make life more costly for everyone and carry on the same radical policies that are destroying lives and our communities.â
An example provided by the Conservative Party is the federal government's harm reduction policies around illicit drugs. An October 2024 Conservative media release quotes a mother and the consequences the program had on her two children.
Her daughter died in 2020 from methadone toxicity just twelve days into her methadone treatment in Ottawa after the clinic failed to conduct an opioid tolerance test before she started treatment. Her son is prescribed 28 hydromorphone pills daily in addition to his current dose of 45 mg of Methadone.
This continues, even though the clinic he attends is well aware that he continues to use street fentanyl, the release stated. "Our Liberal government right now is acting like a drug lord," the mother said.