Wildrose Leader Brian Jean isn’t happy the NDP has deferred a motion calling for a study on the opioid crisis in Alberta.

The party asked the government to look at the availability and timeliness of access to treatment beds, an evaluation of public awareness and public reporting campaigns, and to look at adequate funding to support those who need help.

Jean says police are doing a great job tackling the problem of fentanyl overdoses, but Albertans need a government that will take control of the problem and put some money where its mouth is.

“We were very pleased to see that there’s some attention being paid to it by the government, but clearly not enough steps going forward to actually make an impact as we would like to see on the frontline,” he said.

Jean says the predominant step they need to take is education.

He says they need to be much tougher on drug dealers and support users who’ve fallen into “the trap.”