Social agencies join forces, lobby province to move on safe consumption site By: Malak Abas Posted: 6:15 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

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Organizations that are on the front lines of Winnipeg’s drug crisis have developed a proposal that asks the provincial government to create an Indigenous-led safe consumption site downtown, as opioid use reaches record heights.

They want the government to appoint the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre to lead the project.

A proposal by the wellness centre, in collaboration with Sunshine House, Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc., the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, Main Street Project and Substance Consulting, asks that the province put up money to get the site up and running, including the hiring of a project co-ordinator, find land for it, and ensure the space is Indigenous-led and culturally sensitive.

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An online petition by the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network says the site, under the centre’s leadership, would be a place that “understands and respects the unique needs, traditions and beliefs of Indigenous peoples.”

“It would be a place built on trust, empathy and mutual understanding, where individuals using substances can find support, guidance and access to other health-care resources,” the petition reads.

The petition will stop collecting names as of Thursday, when it will be sent to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith Friday.

Organizations involved in the proposal have been discussing the proposal since first meeting with the province in December.

The wellness centre was selected because of its experience in providing primary care and helping people through its programs, which includes a clinic, housing resources and direct-case management, said Levi Foy of Sunshine House.

While the proposal doesn’t list a funding amount, Foy said it could move more quickly if the province is willing to provide resources for the centre to hire a project manager who could act as a liaison between support organizations and the government.

“We just need to get things moving as quick as possible,” Foy said. “(The proposal could) really relieve some of the back-end stuff that… can be used to delay projects, things like data, community consultation, community support, all of those things.

“This is to demonstrate to the province that our partners within the sector are behind Aboriginal Health and Wellness on this, that community members are engaged in this and aware on this, and to be fully transparent to the community and to our partners and to the province.”

Also included in the proposal is the request that the Mobile Overdose Prevention Site, which is managed by Sunshine House, be allowed to continue until a supervised consumption site is built, and then re-assess the need for its operation.

Smith said she is considering the pitch.

“We continue to have discussions with various community partners and we know we need to act quickly on this critical initiative,” she told the Free Press in an email. “We are carefully considering the proposal from Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre and community partners as a solution to help our relatives on their journey to recovery.”

“We continue to have discussions with various community partners and we know we need to act quickly on this critical initiative”–Bernadette Smith

The centre did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Foy said the province could create a reserve fund, so if the centre finds the right piece of land, it can move quickly to secure the location rather than risk losing it by having to deal with bureaucratic red tape.

Both the proposal and the petition stem from a desperate need within these community organizations, Foy said. He described conversations with the province about the idea as “very positive,” but noted Winnipeg needs a supervised consumption site as quickly as possible.

“We can’t be doing it from the side of our desk, because the need is too dire, it’s too pressing right now,” he said.

The number of opioid-related calls that Winnipeg paramedics responded to in 2023 was dramatically higher than in the previous year.

“We can’t be doing it from the side of our desk, because the need is too dire, it’s too pressing right now”–Levi Foy

Data from the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service shows that 1,870 opioid-related cases were documented by paramedics in 2022 and a preliminary 2023 count is at 3,398 — a 55 per cent increase.

The numbers likely under-represent the magnitude of the problem, said WFPS spokesperson Erin Madden.

“True numbers of calls involving substance use are likely higher, but the chief complaint may instead be reported as a symptom of what the patient is feeling (shortness of breath, chest tightness, dizziness, etc.),” she said.

No other drug included in WFPS data (alcohol, cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana) has similarly skyrocketing case counts year-to-year.

In 2016, paramedics documented 231 opioid-related cases.

— with files from Nicole Buffie

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak 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.