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Scott Stinson: Ontario's crackdown on drugs on public transit has been a long time coming

You can’t operate a transit system and encourage people to use it but then also expect them to do so while running a gauntlet of drug users

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After the Progressive Conservative government announced plans this week to grant new powers to public-transit special constables so that they can arrest drug users, there was nary a word of protest from the opposition parties at Queen’s Park.

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This was significant. It’s not as though Doug Ford’s counterparts are in a particularly conciliatory mood.

Scott Stinson: Ontario's crackdown on drugs on public transit has been a long time coming Back to video

The premier has been blasted regularly in recent weeks over his aborted purchase of a private jet, his changes to Freedom of Information laws, and other assorted transgressions. Ford’s PCs are down in the polls, and there is a blood-in-the-water vibe at Queen’s Park.

So, when the government said on Monday that it was following through on a Ford promise to give transit special constables the authority to “stop individuals from using illegal substances on transit and in transit areas” and to “issue tickets or make arrests if individuals refuse to comply,” it wouldn’t have been all that surprising to see outrage from the opposition benches. They are of a mind to be pretty........

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