NDP to delay addictions bill

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This article was published 03/04/2023 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New Democrats intend to delay a controversial Tory bill to regulate Manitoba drug addictions services, “effectively killing” it, says NDP Leader Wab Kinew.

“We’re going to stop this bill today, and we’re going to chart a course forward to a better approach to responding to addictions in Manitoba,” Kinew said Monday, during a news conference at Sunshine House, a drop-in and resource centre in Winnipeg.

Bill 33 (Addictions Services Act) was introduced in the legislature last month by Janice Morley-Lecomte, minister of mental health and community wellness. Delaying the bill means it will not pass before the next provincial election, on or before Oct. 3.

The Opposition can delay up to five bills in the legislature between now and the fall.

While the governing Progressive Conservatives have said the bill could open the door to supervised consumption sites, harm reduction advocates say its heavy focus on regulation is unnecessary and will do the opposite.

Levi Foy, executive director of Sunshine House, has been vocal about his opposition to the bill, which he believes would shutter the organization’s mobile drug overdose prevention site.

“I’m really happy that this is being delayed and being quashed in the way that it is,” Foy said at the news conference.

He said Bill 33 would not allow for community-led efforts to exist as they do now, requiring more rules, involvement from health-care workers and a more “clinical” setting.

This is not what the community wants, Foy said, noting people who use illicit drugs may have had bad experiences within traditional health-care settings.

Arlene Last-Kolb, of Moms Stop the Harm, a group of parents who’ve lost children to drug poisonings, said she is “grateful” to the NDP for halting the bill.

Last-Kolb said she has tried to work with the PC government on issues of harm reduction and safe supply of substances, but is now putting her faith in a future potential NDP government.

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At the announcement, Kinew said, if elected, the NDP will commit to supporting at least one supervised consumption site in Manitoba. “It’s clear that there is a need… in Winnipeg.”

Speaking to media later in the day, Morley-Lecomte said the proposed legislation is about keeping vulnerable Manitobans safe.

“This bill isn’t about roadblocks, it’s about safety for Manitobans and those most vulnerable who are seeking addiction services through providers,” the Seine River MLA said. “This bill will provide individuals with safe sites that they can access, it will allow them to have medical individuals and also a pathway to recovery.”

Morley-Lecomte said she would support the bill again, as is, if it is reintroduced at a later date.

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca

Katrina Clarke
Investigative reporter

Katrina Clarke is an investigative reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press. Katrina holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Queen’s University and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University. She has worked at newspapers across Canada, including the National Post and the Toronto Star. She joined the Free Press in 2022. Read more about Katrina.

Every piece of reporting Katrina produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.