Failure to Launch: Pallister’s Foot-Dragging on Meth Task Force Inexcusable

January 29, 2019

Winnipeg - Manitoba Liberal Leader and MLA for St. Boniface, Dougald Lamont says the Pallister Government's inability to work well with others is keeping a Meth Task Force from getting off the ground.

The City of Winnipeg, province of Manitoba, and Federal Government announced a task force to battle Manitoba's meth crisis on December 18. More than a month later, its members haven't been chosen, much less started to do any work.

Lamont says that according to a government source all three levels of government have met to discuss possible task force members, but a decision could not be made because the Pallister government is trying to politicize the task force while blaming others.

"The Pallister government thinks it's about getting their way, when the whole point is to set aside political differences to get things done," said Lamont. "The PCs keep suggesting that someone else is to blame for being difficult, but when you look at their track record of picking fights and obstruction, that is pretty hard to believe."

The task force was announced in December of 2018 which means the group now only has five months to select members and produce its report by the June deadline.

Lamont said we can't even get past the first step in the whole process because we have a PC government that for over a year now has refused to even admit that we have a crisis on our hands.

"Addictions advocates, front-line workers, and families have all been calling on the government to act. We now have Crime Stoppers joining the chorus of concerned Manitobans saying we have a major crisis on our hands," said Lamont. "The Meth Task Force needs to deliver a blueprint for action on meth, not another report that will be ignored or a political puff piece."

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