The B.C. NDP and Conservatives are swapping accusations after an IJF investigation raised serious questions about how the government is tallying its publicly funded addiction treatment beds.

Earlier this week, the IJF revealed that a third of the 3,645 beds the province boasts of in press releases are in low-barrier housing, where substance use treatment is not actually provided. Advocates have described B.C.’s approach as both misleading and disappointing in the context of a toxic drug crisis that has killed more than 15,000 people in the province.