We sit down with the City of Vancouver's Mayor, Kennedy Stewart, to discuss the role of cities and municipalities in combating the opioid crisis. Mayor Stewart takes us on a behind the scenes look at the decision, the opportunity and the controversy surrounding Vancouver's proposed model submitted to Health Canada for decriminalization of the simple possession of illicit drugs as a potential new tool in the tool kit. What do the provincial and federal governments think? What could this exemption really mean in terms of how many lives it could save, and what needs to happen next? We also look at how healthcare providers could be supporting a patient-centred model of care at the city level.
About Mayor Kennedy Stewart:
Kennedy Stewart was elected the 40th Mayor of Vancouver on October 20, 2018, and is the City's first independent Mayor in three decades. Elected as a Member of Parliament in 2011, he served in Ottawa for seven years working to fight climate change and increase federal investment in affordable housing. Stewart served at SFU's School of Public Policy where, as a tenured professor, he wrote, taught, and provided advice to governments and the United Nations about cities and housing.