Keith Norbury

On Day 4 of the election, the BC Greens staked out a “health-focused” drug policy based on flawed notions and extreme positions. Their election promise to distribute “regulated” hard drugs through non-medicalized avenues such as compassion clubs is far to the left of the New Democrats, who most recently retreated from decriminalization.

Reacting to public backlash and stymied in its attempts to restrict illicit drug use, the B.C. provincial government backtracked on decriminalization last week, asking the federal government to make public consumption illegal. But whether this strategy will work or withstand court challenges any better than B.C.’s previous ill-fated legislation remains to be seen.

The recent furor over proposed amendments to B.C.’s Land Act centres around “consent,” specifically, the super-charged “free, prior, and informed” form of “consent.” The B.C.’s NDP government recently cancelled consultation into planned legislation that would give First Nations joint statutory decision-making on land use after the proposal met with public outcry and opposition from BC United and the BC Conservative Party.