Kelly DeRidder, the Conservative MP for Kitchener Centre in Ont., was once homeless and addicted to drugs on the streets of the jurisdiction she now represents.
On May 1, about a year after she was elected, DeRidder broke her silence about her difficult past in the House of Commons.
“I decided I would no longer carry that stigma in silence. I’m ending it by telling my story under our party’s leader,” she said before the House.
DeRidder’s timing was significant: that day, debate began at second reading on her private member’s bill, which drew support from MPs across party lines, though some raised concerns about aspects of the bill.
The bill would allow judges to add mandatory rehabilitation programs to prison sentences. It would require prisons and parole boards to consider an offender’s rehabilitation progress when deciding on their release. And it would impose tougher punishments — including potentially longer sentences — for large-scale fentanyl traffickers.
Canadian Affairs reporter Alexandra Keeler spoke with DeRidder about her experiences in and out of addiction, and how the perspectives of those with lived experience needs to inform drug policies.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AK: You recently spoke in the House of Commons about your lived experience with addiction. What made you decide that now was the right time to share your story publicly?
KD: I knew I was going to eventually, and I wanted it to happen organically. My reason for getting into politics is actually this drug crisis … so I knew eventually I would be sharing my personal story, because it matters to want to focus on rehabilitation and turning lives around.
AK: You talked about living on the streets of Kitchener in the Victoria Park neighbourhood. What was your experience with addiction at its lowest point?
KD: My lowest point was when I was in a trap house [a place used for drug dealing and drug use], and I was just looking around, and I was like, ‘What am I doing here? Like, what? This isn’t my future’. And I just realized, ‘Wow, I’ve literally lost everything, and here I am, and it’s time for me to make a change’.
AK: Can you talk a little bit about what you were seeing around you in that trap house that made you question your future?
KD: Well, it’s the dark side of addiction. They’re dirty. They’re disgusting. Everyone is in despair.
I call them trap houses because there’s people that run them that keep people trapped in them through addiction. There’s a very dark side to addiction that people don’t talk about, especially as a female, and some of the choices that you make — some of the things that you do just to stay high — that’s a side of addiction that not a lot of people talk about.
AK: Looking back, what factors do you think contributed to where your addiction began?
KD: It started as an escape. I was partying in high school, hanging out with people and getting high and drinking. It was actually a lot of fun, and I had a blast in those years. But then it just led into something different, where it controlled my life, then got progressively worse over the years.
AK: What were some of the hardest realities of that period in your life?
KD: The choices you make for the drugs — those are the hardest traumas that you go through.
You sell your body. … You get caught in the cycle of trauma, because you’re continually making these bad choices for yourself in order to stay high. … You break your relationships, you lie to people, steal. You do terrible things that you never thought you would ever do as a human being. You don’t recognize who you are. You’ve lost yourself.
AK: Were there people in your life or support systems that you found helpful for climbing out of addiction?
KD: [Sometimes] it feels like you’ve ruined relationships, but the ones who love you still love you. Guilt gets in the way … and you don’t want to get sober because you think you’ve lost the ones that you love the most, but you really haven’t. People need to hear that too: you haven’t lost them — they’re just waiting for you to make a different choice for yourself.
I had my mom, and she showed me tough love. When I was in active addiction, I was not allowed at home, but she always knew where I was, and she was always checking on me, and she was always planting seeds with me. … I had her by my side when I was ready to make a change.
There are people out there who don’t have that person that they could rely on. But I don’t ever want them to not make the choice because they don’t have a specific person — you’ll find that person. … You’ll find them in your community … if you go to a rehab centre, you’ll connect with someone who wants that same sort of life with you.
AK: At what point did you realize things needed to change, and what did your first step towards recovery look like?
KD: The next day [after the realization in the trap house] I went into detox. I completed detox, and then I went up to my mom’s office, and I told her that I want a Conestoga College book. And then I enrolled myself in school, and I enrolled myself in therapy, because I knew I needed that too.
AK: What are your thoughts on harm reduction approaches like safe supply programs and safe consumption sites? Did those play any role in your experience?
KD: They didn’t exist when I was in addiction, but I don’t agree with them.
I would rather use those resources to have [treatment] beds, to have brick and mortar clinical and mental health supports.
AK: What did the recovery process actually look like for you?
KD: I put myself through my own detox, and then I literally went to school and booked my own therapy — that isn’t normal.
What’s normal is, you go to a centre and you get the support you need … And that’s what I’m advocating for, is that we have more of those places for people to go to.
AK: Your private member’s bill proposes integrating more structured rehabilitation programs into sentencing, and strengthening penalties for large-scale fentanyl trafficking. What gaps in the current system are you trying to address?
KD: First, there’s no real accountability for institutions to provide these supports on a continual basis, and no accountability for inmates to participate in them.
Second, how can people heal and break cycles in the same space that there’s open drug use happening in incarceration?
What I’m hoping with this bill is that, if it’s judge-prescribed, it puts accountability on both the institution to provide services and the inmate to take part in them. It adds a layer of accountability that doesn’t exist today and helps people focus on healing instead of repeating the same cycle once they get out.
And the second piece is that the people making money off this crisis need to be punished very harshly.
Addiction is not a business.
AK: What do you think people most commonly get wrong about addiction as a political issue?
KD: Research and data are important, but it’s a huge mistake to completely disregard someone because they’re not an intellect or researcher. We need to be listening to people with lived experience who know how to heal and can help develop programs that are impactful for people trying to change their lives.
AK: What advice would you give to someone who is currently at the beginning of their recovery journey?
KD: Just take the first step. Get into a hospital. If you have someone that can help you, reach out to that person. Just take the first step, because that’s all you can see in front of you at that point.
