Yuri Fulmer (Image Credit: Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press)

By Michael Reeve

BC Conservative Leadership Race

‘We actually need to treat the problem’: Fulmer discusses plans on drug recovery

Jan 31, 2026 | 2:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops city council has been extremely vocal with their desire to see more recovery focused housing come to the community, in return they have been faced with opposition by the B.C. Government who believe the need is greater for low-barrier housing. 

Yuri Fulmer is the first of eight BC Conservative Party Leadership candidates to campaign in Kamloops, with a stop on Saturday (Jan 31). He believes the province are not properly treating addiction. 

“This is an issue very dear to my heart, what we have today is this disease called addiction that we are not treating. We don’t treat it like any other disease,” said Fulmer. “But ordinarily if you present yourself with heart disease or anything else you get treatment right away, addiction is one of the few diseases where you do not get treated right away. So we don’t have detox beds available when people need them.”

“In British Columbia, under a Fulmer Government, if you put up your hand and say you want to get off drugs today, there will be a detox bed available for you today. And when you come out of detox there will be a recovery bed available for you today, publicly funded. We owe the citizens of British Columbia that if you need treatment, you get it today,” added Fulmer. 

Fulmer stated the need for drastic measures is required because of the scourge of fentanyl. 

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“So we need to help the people that have succumbed to this,” said Fulmer. “We need to make their lives better, we need to get them the help they need when they need it. And we have got to have meaningful help, the NDP free drugs program is not meaningful help, it doesn’t change anybody’s situation. It’s just another NDP band-aid that gets everybody nowhere. We actually need to treat the problem.”

On Friday, Fulmer announced his first campaign plank that focused on challenges in rural healthcare. Soon he expects to detail his fiscal priorities. 

“I’ve had a lifetime of experience in business, and running a province is not the same as running a business but there is some similarities,” Fulmer told CFJC News. “In business we learn that revenue has got to at least equal expense, so you have to make sure you manage the books to make sure you aren’t spending more than you have. You learn to build teams, you learn to listen to a lot of different people in business, to learn to take a lot of ideas from the people around you. And you also learn how to create a vision.”

“We will be talking about how we will be able to get back to a balanced budget, how we are going to start to pay down debt in the long term. And most importantly how we can work out how to put tax dollars back into taxpayers pockets. We have a government right now that says I know your life isn’t affordable so why don’t you give us more tax money so that we can create programs to make your life more affordable. A Fulmer government is all about how do we put money back in your pocket so we can make life more affordable.”

The next leader of the BC Conservative will have the challenging task of uniting the large tent party, which includes both federal liberals and conservatives under the same banner. 

“Everybody is very good at identifying the problem, but we have to come with solutions. We have to come with hope for a better future for British Columbians and we have got to come with some optimism. And I think if we can do that around the four, five, six big issues for British Columbians, we can be unified behind that,” said Fulmer. 

“We all want better healthcare, we all want streets to be safer, we all believe that government should balance it’s books. So let’s get unified behind those big things and I think that will bring us all together,” added Fulmer.