Alberta NDP MLA says Smith’s chief of staff’s legacy is more drug deaths
Alberta NDP MLA Janet Eremenko (Calgary-Currie) said the deadliest years of the opioid crisis occurred when Office of the Premier of Alberta (OPA) Chief of Staff Marshall Smith was architecting the Alberta Recovery Model.
While drugs were getting more toxic, Eremenko said the Alberta government responded by defunding harm reduction services.
“That's his record,” tweeted Eremenko on Wednesday.
The deadliest years of the opioid crisis occurred while Marshall Smith was "architecting" the Alberta Recovery Model. Drugs were getting more and more toxic and the UCP responded by defunding harm reduction services. That's his record. #ableg #abpolihttps://t.co/GOfYDFIgVW
— Janet Eremenko (@JanetEremenko) October 9, 2024
Eremenko was commenting on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith confirming a Western Standard exclusive on Tuesday that Marshall would be retiring from public service in October.
“It’s has been an honour to work with Marshall — I and our entire province owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his service to Alberta,” said Danielle.
Over the past 2 years serving as my Chief of Staff, Marshall Smith has worked consistently to serve the best interests of Albertans everyday in the Premier’s Office. At the beginning of this year, and after 32 years of public service in various forms, Marshall informed me that he… pic.twitter.com/m5aWs0dVC0
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 8, 2024
Alberta Mental Health and Addictions Minister Dan Williams said in an interview with the Western Standard Eremenko is criticizing the only plausible solution within Canada to the addictions crisis.
“What she’s criticizing are thousands of lives saved because of the Alberta Recovery Model,” said Williams.
“What she’s criticizing is pure political posturing and requires a conspiracy-level of detachment to reality to truly believe.”
Williams said Albertans “have a moral obligation before any other to make sure that our communities are safe and that our family members and friends have treatment options worthy of the dignity of every single human life in Alberta.” Without recovery, he said Alberta would not have an operation to fight addictions.
Alberta government statistics released in July found opioid deaths in the province were at their lowest point since 2020 and came after the crisis’ deadliest year.
Ninety Albertans died from opioid overdoses in April 2024. That was fewer than half the 186 deaths in April 2023 — the worst month since the opioid crisis started in 2016.
Alberta saw 23 drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people in April — the lowest per capita figure since April 2020 when it was at 21.8 and had 80 deaths. https://www.westernstandard.news/alberta/alberta-ndp-mla-says-smiths-chief-of-staffs-legacy-is-more-drug-deaths/58515
Berta Dad nailed it. Copied from FB.
Jeff Rath’s behaviour toward Danielle Smith is not a good look for this movement, and he does not speak for me.
When this started, I had respect for him. But as this has played out, it has become harder to ignore what appears to be a push for power inside the movement, not a sincere focus on Alberta independence.
Danielle Smith is a major reason Albertans were even able to collect signatures in the first place. Compared to any other premier in this country, I believe she has been the strongest one standing up for her province.
I will not forget her accomplishments.
She stood up for parental rights when others wanted schools keeping parents in the dark.
She took action against political ideology being pushed in classrooms.
She made sure kids got back to school when the system tried to hold families hostage.
She has strengthened Alberta Sheriffs and continued exploring ways to free Alberta from relying on the RCMP.
And that is only part of it.
This ...
WEF/UN/Globalists have proven they can’t be trusted now given the key to Canada. Are you awake yet Canadians??
REPORT: UN Climate Scientists Flip on the Climate Doomsday Narrative | Stand on Guard CLIP
WATCH Have they been lying about climate change this whole time? Are they cancelling climate change doomsday scenario for the data centers?
The UN climate scientists admit the high emission doomsday scenarios were overblown. UN climate change scientists flip: climate change not too bad anymore according to a new report. No doomsday on the horizon.
On this Stand on Guard clip, we question why the UN might be backtracking on previous dire predictions, suggesting a new agenda at play. We examine how this shift could be tied to the proliferation of data center construction and the increasing demands on our power grid from artificial intelligence. It's crucial to consider the broader implications for our communities and hold big tech accountable.
Thank you to @jimmy_dore for pointing out this...
