VICTORIA, B.C.: Vancouver Fire Rescue Services announced this week it will scale back responses to certain medical calls, citing overwhelming demand driven by the ongoing overdose crisis: the predictable result of nearly a decade of failed BC NDP drug policy.

Across Vancouver, firefighters have now stopped responding to Code Orange calls citywide, and calls in the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona, and Yaletown have scaled back on Code Red calls involving potentially life-threatening emergencies.

Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena and Critic for Mental Health, Addictions & Housing Supports says the announcement is a direct consequence of years of NDP mismanagement of the overdose crisis. “When firefighters are so overwhelmed they have to stop responding to life-threatening emergencies, it tells you everything you need to know about how badly this government has mismanaged the response to this crisis,” said Rattée. “After nearly a decade of a declared public health emergency that has claimed more than 18,000 lives, the NDP still hasn’t made measurable progress, and the result is overwhelming burnout for first responders. Concentrating vulnerable people in SRO housing with no services or supports compounds this issue. This has resulted in one fire hall fielding thousands of calls a quarter with no end in sight.”

“When crews are consumed by drug-related calls, they are pulled away from fires, rescues, and other emergencies. That puts every British Columbian at risk,” said Macklin McCall, MLA for West Kelowna-Peachland and Critic for Public Safety & Solicitor General. “The public is now seeing the downstream consequences of failed drug policy on emergency response systems across this province. First responders are burnt out, response times are growing, and frontline resources are being stretched past the breaking point, yet the NDP still has no credible plan to fix the crisis they helped create.”

The BC Conservative Caucus is calling on the NDP to invest in treatment and recovery, pair housing with meaningful supports, and build a comprehensive strategy focused on results, not managing failure indefinitely.

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Media Contact:
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