Conservative bill to toughen penalties on fentanyl trafficking and manufacturing in Canada

Ottawa —
Conservative MP for Richmond Centre–Marpole, Chuck O, introduced a new bill aimed at tightening penalties for the manufacture and trafficking of highly dangerous synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl and its derivatives.

The bill C-289 is named the Stopping Supply to Save Lives Act, and its sponsors hope it will be popularly known as the “Emily’s Legacy,” in memory of Emily Liu, a fourteen-year-old girl who tragically died due to fentanyl.

O said that the fentanyl crisis has become one of the most serious public safety and public health challenges in Canada, noting that more than 56,000 Canadians have lost their lives due to opioid poisoning since 2016, with fentanyl linked to the vast majority of these deaths.

The bill focuses on those who produce, traffic, or trade deadly synthetic opioids, not on people suffering from addiction or simple possession cases.

The legislation proposes increasing penalties for serious fentanyl-related crimes, and adding aggravating factors when crimes occur near schools, childcare centers, treatment centers, and places that provide services to vulnerable groups.

The bill also stipulates strict penalties including mandatory prison sentences in cases of trafficking or possession for the purpose of trafficking specified amounts of synthetic opioids, with the possibility of life imprisonment for the most serious crimes.

The Conservatives say the goal of the law is to target criminal networks that profit from trading substances capable of killing people in very small amounts, considering that current penalties do not constitute sufficient deterrence.

O pointed out that recent events in Moncton, where hundreds of overdoses were recorded in a short period after contaminated supplies entered the community, demonstrate the magnitude of the danger these substances pose to Canadian cities.

The Conservative MP called on members of parliament from various parties to support the bill, stressing that Canada needs a clear message that profiting from selling deadly substances that have destroyed families and communities will not go without serious consequences.