It was always amusing to see how aspiring politician Alex Nuttall fawned on Patrick Brown as heir apparent to Patrick’s seat in parliament. It did not seem to be a sure thing with their respective ages being so close. All became clear though when Patrick jumped on the provincial leadership bandwagon. My neighbours and I got the dirty end of the stick when Mr. Nuttall told us he was our new conservative candidate in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.
The fact of his slim win by 89 votes out of the rural area of the electoral district was a clear indication of the city folks’ opinion of Mr. Nuttall. We knew Mr. Nuttall best. And he has certainly not done anything important for anybody, city or rural, since.
At a time when Barrie residents are increasingly concerned about the late-night disturbances downtown, the drunkenness, the open prostitution, as well as growing drug problems and deaths, our MP, Alex Nuttall has turned a blind eye to our concerns.
The weekly grocery ad wrap that passes for a newspaper now in Barrie, found out that Nuttall thinks federally approved safe injection sites for drug addicts are illegal. The Simcoe County health unit considers a safe injection site as a ‘harm prevention’ priority for Barrie that can save many lives. The city has to wait for the provincial government’s approval of it but nobody knows what that government will do from one day to the next. (Health minister Christine Elliott said the other day that we will keep some sites but did not say where.)
Mr. Nuttall has absolutely no idea what to do about drug addiction but does not think safe injection sites are the answer. He would probably appear a lot smarter if he just shut up.
All we know is that safe injection sites can save lives. They build rapport with the addicts to the point where the professionals can start to communicate and can help them. It works and is a solution that does not leave people on the street to die.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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