Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Wednesday that he will change the Criminal Code if he’s elected so that all drug “kingpins” convicted of trafficking what he’s calling major quantities of fentanyl are hit with a mandatory life sentence in prison.
The policy announcement comes as President Donald Trump presses neighbouring Canada and Mexico to take a harder line on fentanyl to stop the flow of the deadly drug into the U.S. or face big tariffs.
U.S. government data shows comparatively little of the drug is coming over the northern border, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed more money and resources — including the appointment of a fentanyl “czar” — to crack down and satisfy Trump’s concerns.
