Saskatchewan will now have fines up to $1 million for some fentanyl and meth trafficking cases

Fentanyl recently seized by the City of Winnipeg packaged and coloured to look like cookies. (Winnipeg police handout)

The provincial government announced more measures Tuesday that it says will further protect Saskatchewan residents and communities from illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Included in the measures is the potential for fines of up to $1 million, that the province said it hopes will stop the unauthorized, non-medical production, transportation, distribution and use of the substances outside of approved medical use.

“We are here today because we recognize a need for these changes,” Minister of Justice and Attorney General Tim McLeod told reporters at the announcement in Saskatoon.

“Fentanyl in particular, it’s a toxic substance that needs to be eradicated from our communities, and so we are taking measures to protect our communities from the dangers of this drug, to punish those who would profit off the sale of this drug, and help the users who are maybe addicted to find a path to recovery.”

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One way the province feels it can aid in recovery is by allowing offenders to receive credit against court-imposed fines if they attend eligible addictions programming.

Examining updates to the Fine Option program was one of the measures announced Tuesday, the province said.

Along with that and a potential fine of $1 million, other measures include the implementation of policies that would cancel provincial driving, firearms, hunting and fishing licences and in some cases business and municipal licences, along with provincial benefits, according to the province.

McLeod also said more efforts will be focused under The Seizure of Criminal Property Act, 2009, which would allow the province to seize property that was obtained through illegal activities or used to commit crimes.

Other announces measures included:

• Prioritizing drug-related offenders, ensuring they are appropriately apprehended and held accountable, as part of the Warrant Intelligence Team’s efforts to enhance public safety and disrupt illegal drug activity. The Warrant Intelligence Team will also work with government ministries to suspend government benefits to these offenders.
• Updating the Trespass to Property Regulations to classify drug use and other disruptive activities as trespassing, to defend against these activities in semi-public spaces.
• Including dangerous, drug-related items as street weapons in The Safe Public Spaces (Street Weapons) Act, allowing police to seize these items and in some cases lay charges under the Act.

“By addressing both the supply and demand sides of the issue, these measures work toward reducing drug-related harm, improving public safety and fostering healthier, more stable neighborhoods and communities,” the province said.

Saskatoon Police Chief Cameron McBride also spoke on the proposed measures, saying he’s optimistic that changes will aid police in dealing with drug related offences.

“We know that there are individuals on the street who we don’t want to victimize or criminalize by virtue of their circumstance,” he explained.

“We don’t want to criminalize individuals in crisis or who are marginalized, but at the same time, using a balanced approach and giving us the capacity and the ability to deal with things in a lawful manner with a piece of legislation that provides that authority is a good thing from a policing perspective.”

It was a perspective shared by Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand, who also attended the announcement.

“I’m about community safety, trying to protect people’s lives. Because when somebody gets killed from this stuff, in my opinion, the penalty is not harsh enough, because they do their sentence, they come back out, do the same darn thing again, we didn’t solve nothing,” he said.

“So hopefully this, along with the federal government and the provincial government, we can enforce larger time sentences for individuals.”

Arcand was sure to note that the enforcement efforts must be done in conjunction with access to treatment.

“We’re all in this together. We just gotta keep working,” he said.

“It’s going to take some time, but we see a lot of major busts in our city, outside of our province, and it’s going to hit our grassroots people. It’s going to affect somebody’s family and we want to stop all of that.”

McLeod said the measures aren’t meant to address proposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, but they could be used to help the province’s conversations with U.S. officials.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel next month and also said Tuesday that a 25 per cent tariff on many other Canadian goods will take affect March 4.

Trump has raised concerns about security at the Canada-U.S. border. In response, the provinces and federal government have introduced measures to beef up border patrols and crack down on the movement of drugs.

According to McLeod, the new measures will be in affect as soon as possible and may need to be first addressed in the legislature this spring, depending on opposition approval.

-With files from The Canadian Press