The lead contender for the prime minister’s office wants to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for fueling drug addiction in Canada.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), wants “crooked” pharmaceutical companies to pay for the opioid crisis.
Poilievre points to how the United States has recovered over $50 billion from drug manufacturers and distributors.
The CPC leader slammed Trudeau for letting “dirtbag companies off scot-free.”
If elected to the prime minister’s office, Poilievre plans on launching a $44 billion lawsuit against big pharma for “causing the opioid crisis,” according to his party’s website.
A press statement on the matter reads:
“After 8 years of Justin Trudeau, Canadians are suffering. Since 2016, 32,000 Canadians have died from opioid-related deaths, and a further 33,000 Canadians have been hospitalized.
The NDP-Liberal approach has failed. It has put more drugs on our streets, leading to more addictions, more deaths and more despair.”
Last year, 4 American companies agreed to pay out $26 billion to settle claims of fueling the opioid crisis.
Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson agreed to pay the settlement as a way of getting various levels of the United States government off their backs.
Poilievre is proposing that his government, if granted power, will take the same approach as the United States did.
