Delay on meth task force blamed on choice of Ouellette

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This article was published 20/12/2018 (2493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Manitoba’s senior federal cabinet minister, Jim Carr, said he is confident his Liberal party colleague, who is a former Winnipeg mayoral candidate, will be able to work with provincial and municipal authorities on a meth task force.

“We determined that Robert-Falcon Ouellette would be the federal representative,” Carr said Thursday.

The Free Press reported this week that provincial and municipal officials were reluctant to have the Liberal MP for Winnipeg Centre on the task force. That was partly why it took so long to get the effort off the ground.

Sources confirmed Thursday officials from the other levels of government preferred to work with Charleswood Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson, a doctor.

The sources said provincial and municipal officials argued Ouellette is unpredictable and abrasive, at times.

That seemed to come to light

on Dec. 11, when Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman testified via video conference at a parliamentary committee meeting in Ottawa to discuss meth.

Ouellette gave Bowman a quizzical look, asking how many homeless people live in Winnipeg.

The mayor paused awkwardly and admitted he didn’t know.

“I can get back to you on specific numbers; I’m sure you have it,” Bowman said to Ouellette, who was his opponent in the 2014 municipal election.

Carr said he didn’t recall being directly asked to be on the task force, but Ouellette was “the federal choice” because of his knowledge of the issue.

“He has knowledge of it. It impacts his constituency as much as or more than any other,” said Carr, who is the minister for international trade diversification.

Sources suspect Ouellette was chosen in order to boost his profile in his riding; Carr said his party opted for the MP who best fit the task.

“He’s passionate about the issue, and I’m sure he’ll make a positive contribution to the work of the task force, which is very important.”

Ouellette has said that police have been called to his riding office to deal with agitated people. Two of them propositioned him for money to buy drugs.

He said there are 10 houses within two blocks of his riding office that were boarded up after drug labs were abandoned or firebombed.

Eyolfson will play a supporting role, looking at the health aspect of meth, while Ouellette will take on public safety issues and the effect on Indigenous people.

The task force will report in June, nine months after city council called for such a body, amid what Winnipeg police call a crisis.

On Sept. 20, city council unanimously passed a motion calling for an intergovernmental task force on methamphetamine use “with a mandate to identify prevention and treatment strategies.” The task force was announced Dec. 18.