Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government is pushing for changes that would give special constables who patrol the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) the power to arrest riders who use illegal drugs on the city’s streetcars, subways and buses.“One hundred per cent they should (be allowed to make arrests),” Ford said Wednesday at Queen’s Park.“We want safe subways, we want safe transit everywhere in the city. And (if) someone’s using drugs or shooting up drugs on the subway, they need to be arrested and removed from the subway.”When asked if the move would essentially amount to re-victimizing already marginalized members of society, Ford pointed towards his government’s investments in addiction treatment programs.“We’ve invested over $30 million in putting up HART (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) hubs to help people, to get shelter (and) to make sure they have the opportunity to get their feet back on the ground and find gainful employment.”When asked if he could see the idea expanded to GO trains, Ford said the problem doesn’t exist on the provincially-run service.“We don’t have that problem on GO, people doing drugs on GO,” he said. “It’s a great system and I’ll tell ya Metrolinx wouldn’t tolerate it (drug use) for a minute.”Under the proposal, The Ministry of the Solicitor General would give the special transit constables the same powers as police officers to make arrests under the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, 2025“The Act prohibits the use of illegal substances in public places, with limited exemptions, and allows police officers and any prescribed provincial offences officers to direct individuals to stop using illegal substances or to leave the public space,” the province’s website states.If a person using drugs refuses to stop, they can be arrested.“To keep families safe while commuting to work or on their way to school, our government is looking at providing transit special constables with additional tools to enforce public drug use laws on public transit,” the Solicitor General’s office said in a statement to CityNews on Wednesday.Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told CityNews, “we are concerned with the proposed regulations … in particular the impact on marginalized groups.” The public can give their input on the proposal here.More to come