Saskatchewan ready to give police greater authority to crack down on drug traffickers, users

The provincial government, which promised to make communities safer from illegal drug use and trafficking, is taking action on that promise with several new measures. 

At a news conference in Saskatoon on Tuesday the province announced it will be making changes to legislation and regulations to crack down on drug trafficking and on people using fentanyl and methamphetamine. 

One of the new measures will give police more authority to remove anyone using fentanyl or meth in a semi-public space, such as libraries, malls, restaurants, parks and business entrances. 

It will also give police the power to charge those people with trespassing when they deem necessary. 

Until now, Saskatoon police Chief Cam McBride told reporters, a property owner needed to provide a statement and testify in court to get those individuals removed from their property. 

"Under the new legislation," McBride said, "we have the ability to go into a restaurant and if we observe it — whether we were called there or simply arrived there and see it for ourselves — we can take that action based on what we see as police officers," McBride said. 

The province will update the Trespass to Property Act to classify drug use and other disruptive activities as trespassing. 

It would also classify drug-related items such as needles and pipes as weapons. 

"If somebody is exhibiting violent behaviour but not overtly using a needle as a weapon, we would have the ability to seize that weapon or needle in order to prevent an attack or prevent … further violence," McBride said. 

Under the new provisions, police will be able to revoke a driver's licence, a business licence and even hunting and fishing licences if the person is convicted of a drug-related crime. 

"We also have the ability to suspend driver licences for people who don't pay child support. And so this is just be an expansion of that one more category that you could potentially lose your licence if you engage in this behaviour," said Tim McLeod, minister of justice and attorney general. 

Saskatoon Tribal Chief Marc Arcand says there is potential for people who are homeless to have more encounters with police, but adds if they aren't breaking the law, they don't have anything to worry about. 

"What we have to do is hold people accountable … because there's two different sides to this, right? Because we heard today about the users, right, that are using fentanyl. How do we get them treatment, right? So then … we think about the people that are actually processing this stuff and trafficking and making a living off people when they're actually dying, right," he said. 

The province says it's also considering involuntary addiction treatment centres as in neighbouring Alberta, where Premier Danielle Smith says her government plans to spend $180 million over three years to build two such centres.