John Hedican is running as an Independent candidate for Courtenay-Comox MLA in the upcoming provincial election.
Hedican has lived in the Comox Valley for most of his life, moving to the Valley in 1973 as a young teen. He has been fortunate to raise his family along with his wife Jennifer here in the area. They have three children, Ryan, Megan and Kyle. Hedican has spent most of his working years as an owner in two family-owned businesses - TJM Contracting, a logging road construction company based out of the north Island, followed by C&N Tool Rentals in Comox.
Hedican believes all political parties are failing to acknowledge the reality of the deaths, harms and wasted tax dollars of the failed federal drug policy of the prohibition of drugs. Prohibition is the single biggest contributing factor in the tragic loss of more than 14,000 preventable deaths in the province and 42,000 in the country since 2016.
"The reality of supporting the prohibition of drugs is that all parties are okay with people dying a preventable death and organized crime thanks them for their continued support, not to mention billions of wasted tax dollars spent decade after decade that has only worsened our addiction, unhoused people and mental health issues. These realities are that the prohibition of drugs 100 per cent supports organized crime as the sole provider of toxic drugs in every community, as it ensures that they are the only source in every town," he said.
John and Jennifer tragically lost their son Ryan at the age of 26 in 2017 and their nephew Justin at the age of 38 in 2019 to the toxic source of drugs. He believes both Ryan and Justin, along with the 42,000 other deaths in the country, would be alive today if their substance of choice would be regulated.
He does support a legalization policy that would acknowledge and actively address the reality that drugs, like alcohol, have and always will be part of life.
To protect all substance users, Hedican calls for a legalized government-regulated system like what is currently provided for alcohol and marijuana, as he noted a safe source is the only way to save lives during this crisis. Legalization would provide the funding needed to address the many complex issues related to addiction, mental health and poverty through saved tax dollars.
Hedican added that the revenue could then be redirected into government-funded detox and recovery facilities backed by research and science, mental health facilities and support, housing for those in poverty and the unhoused and better education for our youth to learn the harms of both alcohol and drugs.
Toxic poisoning from substances is now the leading cause of death in B.C. from ages 10 to 59, said Hedican.
"All parties are guilty of deepening toxic partisanship rather than addressing this shocking reality. It is past time to have all parties work together to prioritize saving lives and not solely calculate the net gain of their voters and speak to their base."
Hedican is running as an independent MLA to address the horrendous death toll from unregulated drug toxicity, as more than 22 people a day in Canada will continue to die; he added this reality is not acknowledged by any political party or candidate. He is running as an independent to ensure that the other candidates and their parties have to make this a life-and-death issue as well.
To view more of Hedican’s platform, visit electjohnhedican.com
