UCP Leader Jason Kenney is seen in the Medicine Hat News boardroom in this file photo. Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips is taking Kenney to task for comments made in that city over the efforts of police regarding the opioid crisis.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Lethbridge Herald
nkuhl@lethbridgeherald.com
The NDP is asking for a formal apology from UCP Leader Jason Kenney after he told the Lethbridge Herald last week that law enforcement is “shrugging their shoulders” regarding the city’s response to the opioid crisis.
“When Jason Kenney came to Lethbridge, he issued a drive-by insult to our men and women in uniform,” Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips said Tuesday afternoon at her constituency office.
“He levelled an accusation that our law enforcement professionals are ‘shrugging their shoulders’ in response to the very serious opioid crisis we have in this province and in this city. That is inappropriate.
“They don’t deserve that kind of thing. Their jobs are hard enough. To claim that people are actively in dereliction of their duty as law enforcement is deeply, deeply offensive. This is a disturbing pattern of insulting the people of Lethbridge. It’s a drive-by smear on our law enforcement and he needs to apologize.”
A request for comment was made by the Herald to Kenney Tuesday, but it was not returned. Kenney is travelling to India this week.
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Lethbridge Police Chief Rob Davis was away Tuesday and not reachable for comment.
During a news conference last Friday, the Herald asked Kenney what a UCP-led government would do to help Lethbridge deal with the opioid crisis. Kenney said prevention and increased enforcement was the answer.
“Law enforcement should not be shrugging its shoulders. They should be overturning the tables to track down the dealers who brought that into the local market. So I don’t accept a shrug of the shoulders,” he said at that time.
“If I am premier, I will expect the police services to spare no effort at tracking down the dealers who are bringing that kind of poison here into Lethbridge, the Blood Reserve and elsewhere.”
Lethbridge Police Service officials have continually said throughout the crisis that police cannot arrest their way out of the problem of drug use and all the crime associated with it.
Phillips said Lethbridge Police have responded to hundreds of drug complaints and cases of possession, working to reduce trafficking, production and cultivation of illicit substances. Although she does acknowledge seeing an increase in drug-related activity and social issues in the city.
“I, too, as a citizen am deeply concerned about this,” she said, adding that affordable housing initiatives, intox and detox facilities, and continued communication with area reserves are areas that will be addressed. “We all need to pull together to address this.
“I’m certainly not going to be in the business of insulting any folks in Lethbridge who have solutions on this like Jason Kenney has. As a representative of this city, Maria Fitzpatrick (MLA for Lethbridge East) and I have seen many, many ways in which the Lethbridge Police Service is working tirelessly to keep the people of this city safe. There have been a number of drug busts related to fentanyl and carfentanil in this city over the course of this year.”
