Canada

Health Canada’s witness in the Drug User Liberation Front’s (DULF) judicial review trial frustrated the judge and highlighted how opaque and frustrating Canadian drug policy can be.

On Monday Eric Costen, who was associate deputy minister for Health Canada from June 2023 to September 2025, was questioned by DULF’s lawyers, Tim Dickson and Stephanie Dickson. Costen had worked for Health Canada since 2002 and had worked as an executive since 2006.

He told the court his role as associate deputy minister made him “No. 2” at Health Canada on the public service side.

Despite his role and tenure at Health Canada, Costen replied to almost every one of Tim Dickson’s questions with a hedging response, such as “I’m not sure I remember” or “That was outside of my department.”

Justice Catherine Murray chastised Costen several times while he was on the stand.

When asked how pharmaceutical-grade heroin could have been approved for non-medical safer supply programs, Costen said he wasn’t familiar with the process for changing regulations because he wasn’t involved in the regulatory side of Health Canada.

Murray spoke up. “You were one of the head people in the country dealing with drug regulations and the toxic drug crisis,” she said. “So if an issue goes strictly outside of your box into another bureaucrat’s, you just stop paying attention?”

“Is the whole time you are being asked about vague, or just the questions you’ve been asked so far?” Murray said, referring to Costen’s responses. “Did you refresh your memory in order to testify meaningfully today?”

Murray also said he seemed to be “seeing [evidence] for the first time and guessing” in his responses, and provided responses of “very little value” despite being asked to talk about emails he had sent and meetings he had been in during his time at Health Canada.