Manitoba Liberals to invest in drug treatment program if elected

If elected this spring, the Manitoba Liberals say they plan to put more money into an addiction rehabilitation program designed to keep people out of jail.

"It's the right thing to do,"Manitoba Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari said Sunday at a campaign announcement in Southdale.

Bokhari's saidher party will put $400,000 toward theWinnipeg Drug Treatment Court, a federal program ushered in with the help of the current government. Itplaces offenders with addiction issues in treatment and offers them counseling instead of incarceration.

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"It's a program that has evidence-based results,"Bokharisaid. "Recidivism rates are decreasing under this program.People are becoming productive members of society after their treatment, which is why we're just going to double it to allow for more resources to go into it."

Bokhari saidthe investment would help reduce crime.

"It's a prettyrigorousprogram. It's a lot ofcounselling, a lot of educational upgrading.It's a lot of just making sure those people are ready to commit to society, and whatever their addictions or abuse issues are, those are taken care of," she said.

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The NDP sent out a release saying they, too, believe in the program.

"Weagree that itis important to address addictions issues. That's why we created the Winnipeg Drug Treatment Court together with the federal governmentand continue to support it," the NDP said in a statement.

"It's why weestablished the Mental Health Court, which works with people whose mental-health issues arecontributing totheir involvement with crime."

Voters head to the polls April 19.