Mayor agrees to call special council meeting on drug crisis

The mayor has agreed to hold a special meeting about the drug crisis after being urged to do so by Sherri Rollins, who had a recent ride-along with Main Street Project in which she saw “piles of humans” in crisis.

Rollins, the councillor for Fort Rouge-Fort Garry, wrote Wednesday to Mayor Scott Gillingham, city chief administrative officer Joseph Dunford, and fellow members of council, to request the urgent council session.

She said her ride-along taught her the program in which one city ambulance is dedicated solely to reviving drug users who have overdosed is a failure.

“MSP was out there, and the next block over, paramedics were out there, and the cadets, all reviving people,” she said.

The province’s recently announced the $1-million commitment to fund a dedicated ambulance crew for three months.

“It’s so unworkable, it’s just like saying nothing. And it’s been months, not weeks, of waiting for a response that is adequate to meet the level of the crisis.”

Gillingham, who toured the Portage Avenue and Sherbrook Street area where there has been open drug use, said he spoke with Rollins and told her he supports holding a council meeting on the issue.

“I am deeply frustrated by the impact this crisis is having on our neighbourhoods, emergency responders, and our most vulnerable residents,” the mayor said in a statement.

“My office is already setting up a meeting with councillors next week to look at what further action the city can take. We also need other levels of government to understand the urgency of this situation and deliver the addictions, mental health, and public safety resources Winnipeg needs.”

In her letter, Rollins argued the current approach fails to meet the needs of residents, business owners, emergency responders and people dealing with addiction, mental illness and homelessness.

She called for more provincial funding for mental health and addiction treatment, expanded health-care services and stronger public safety measures.

The councillor also wrote to the Manitoba government, asking it to step up its response to the overdose crisis by bolstering funding and taking urgent action.

Rollins addressed the letter to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, in which she said incremental measures, short-term grants and additional studies don’t cut it.

She lobbied for a formal provincial-municipal task force, made up of officials from the health, justice and social services departments as well as law enforcement and city staff, to co-ordinate the response.

Asagwara, at an unrelated event Wednesday, said Rollins should help to ensure her council colleagues work with the provincial and federal governments “as a team.”

“I think Coun. Rollins is well aware of the work that our government has been doing,” the minister said. “We keep city council pretty up to speed on all of the investments that are being made to address mental health challenges, safety and security concerns, addictions, housing — all of that — will remain a big priority for our government.”

The minister acknowledged there is still much work to be done.

“We need the City of Winnipeg to be a full partner in this work. We need the federal government to be a full partner in this work.”

In her letter, Rollins urged the provincial government to expand addiction and mental health services while addressing growing public safety concerns. She said front-line workers, neighbourhoods and the homeless need immediate support.

Rollins is asking the province to make addiction treatment available around the clock, send mobile health-care teams into communities, expand outreach and recovery programs, increase supportive housing options and provide more facilities equipped to respond to overdose emergencies.

The councillor echoed the call by other groups for the province to declare a public health emergency.

“And with the crisis and drug poisoning crisis where the street outreach teams can barely get to anybody, and they’re burning out, and no one is talking about respite for these teams that can’t move a block without assisting, sometimes eight people in a back lane… that’s why I’m speaking out now,” she said.

Winnipeg has recorded its first sustained period with more opioid-related calls for service than alcohol-related calls.

The sharpest increase was in April, when opioid calls exceeded alcohol-related calls by 380. WFPS data shows crews responded to 810 opioid patients that month alone — more than triple the number recorded in April 2025.

— with files from Morgan Modjeski

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca