Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has said that, were he to form government, he would impose harsh imprisonment for fentanyl trafficking, including mandatory life sentences for major dealers. This is a laudable idea, even if his proposed legal mechanism for enacting these reforms is questionable.

Opioids have killed tens of thousands of Canadians. As of 2024, 79 per cent of all accidental apparent opioid toxicity deaths involved fentanyl, up from 39 per cent since 2016 when tracking of opioid-related deaths began. According to Health Canada, fentanyl was involved in roughly 80 per cent of overdose deaths last year. The opioid is roughly 50 times more potent than heroin, meaning that just a 2-mg dose, the physical equivalent of a few grains of sand, can be lethal to inexperienced users.