B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions is apologizing in the wake of a tweet from her party that accused the former BC Liberal government of “ignoring the overdose crisis.”
The tweet, which was posted by the BC NDP (that is, the party not the government caucus), read “The BC Liberals ignored the overdose crisis until it was too late. We’re breaking down silos and bringing frontline workers together to tackle it.”
The tweet has since been deleted.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy said she acted as soon as she became aware of the tweet.
“I was back east visiting relatives and as soon as I saw it I asked that it be taken down, it has been taken down,” she said.
It was actually the previous Liberal government that declared a public health emergency on opioids, giving increased powers to health officers.
Darcy said she has also reached out to the former BC Liberal health minister personally.
“I called Terry Lake this morning and apologized and he accepted my apology,” she said.
More than 1,200 people have died in 2017 of suspected illicit drug overdoses.