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SURREY — British Columbia’s minister of public safety says dealers whose fentanyl-laced drugs cause death could face a manslaughter charge.

Mike Farnworth, who is also solicitor general, says the NDP government is considering tougher penalties against fentanyl dealers.

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Speaking at a news conference in Surrey, Farnworth said his ministry believes that anyone dealing fentanyl is, in his words, “dealing death.”

A manslaughter charge was laid in Edmonton last year in an opioid death and, since then, the same charge has been laid in several similar cases in Alberta and Ontario.

Farnworth says the issue of stiffer penalties in deadly drug cases was raised at a recent meeting of Canada’s public safety ministers.

Vancouver police have said the question is complex and convictions would rely on unique sets of circumstances and evidence, but Farnworth says the province is ready to press ahead.