Community rallies against proposed supervised drug site

People who live and work near a proposed supervised drug consumption site in Winnipeg’s core are urging the provincial government to pick a different location amid criticism over the consultation process.

Vincent Rara, a longtime resident who is helping to organize a community-led meeting to oppose the proposed location at 366 Henry Ave., said the facility wouldn’t be a good fit for the area, where families, parks and children’s programs are within a few blocks.

“We feel we’re lacking consultation. We weren’t given enough notification,” Rara said Monday.

The Manitoba government publicly revealed the proposed location last Friday along with plans for a two-hour, in-person consultation meeting Tuesday night and a virtual session Thursday.

Rara and several other people who live or work in the area, including businesses across the street, told the Free Press they didn’t receive invitations to the consultation meetings, and they learned about the province’s plans for 366 Henry from media or word of mouth.

The government’s initial proposal to put a supervised drug site at 200 Disraeli Fwy., in Point Douglas, was abandoned in September after residents said it would be too close to schools and daycares. Some described the government’s consultation with the community as insufficient.

In a statement Friday, Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said 366 Henry is “well beyond” 250 metres from schools and registered child-care centres, with open drug use happening nearby.

Premier Wab Kinew promised such a buffer after the Disraeli Freeway site was abandoned.

The province wants to open the facility in January, initially as an urgent public health needs site, while it seeks a federal exemption to allow for a facility in which illegal drugs can be used under staff supervision on an ongoing basis.

“We feel we’re lacking consultation. We weren’t given enough notification.”

Urgent public health needs sites are similar to supervised consumption sites but they are temporary, Health Canada’s website said.

The site is being developed with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre.

ARZ Contracting Ltd., the current occupant of 366 Henry Ave., is moving out this week. The company owner, who declined to give his full name, said he leases the building. He declined to name the building’s owner or landlord. City tax records listed ARZ Contracting as the building’s owner.

The man said he found out about the government’s plans Friday, and he was already planning to move his business to a new location.

“Before, we heard it was going to be in the area, but we didn’t know it was going to be happening here,” he said about the drug site.

Smith has said the site will offer in-house supports for addictions, housing and other needs, and it will have a security plan that involves police.

She was not available for an interview Monday, a spokesman said.

The province wants to put the site near a cluster of shelters or services for people who are addicted to drugs, homeless or experiencing mental health issues. The proposed location is two blocks west of Princess Street.

Rara created a flyer with a map that shows 366 Henry Ave. and its proximity to homes, parks and community services, such as youth programs and an adult literacy program. The site is immediately surrounded by auto-repair shops and other businesses.

He and others handed out hundreds of copies of the flyer, which outlined the group’s concerns and urged people to voice opposition at the province’s Tuesday meeting at Siloam Mission.

The province instructed people to RSVP online. There was an indication that space may be limited, Rara said.

“First-come, first-served is not a way to do dialogue,” he said.

“First-come, first-served is not a way to do dialogue.”

Government officials will be invited to the community-led meeting, which is planned for Dec. 16, Rara said.

He fears the site will attract drug dealers, increase crime in the immediate area, hurt efforts to improve the neighbourhood and weaken property values.

Rara said he supports the idea of a supervised drug site and is in favour of people getting help, but he feels a mobile site would be a better fit in the interim.

Winnipeg Inner City Mission is about a five-minute walk from 366 Henry. Executive director Beverly Burkard said there is a need for the site and the government is doing the “right thing” by looking for a space.

She said it would be better located on Main Street between Logan and Higgins avenues.

“I am grossly opposed to it being in this neighbourhood,” she said. “We need to put the site where the most people can access it.”

Burkard said the mission is set to open an Indigenous arts and cultural centre that will have activities and programs for children.

She is worried a supervised drug site will hurt the perception of the neighbourhood and discourage people from visiting or renting the mission’s new community hub.

“(It) means our hub will be impacted in a negative way because people won’t want their kids in proximity of a safe consumption site,” Burkard said.

The mission also has a 20-suite transitional housing building nearby.

Point Douglas resident Michelle Gregorashuk is concerned about the proposed location being a few streets from a centre where her children take part in drop-in programs. The centre is outside of the 250-metre buffer.

“This is not fair to the people of the area.”

She said she looked online but couldn’t find information on how to RSVP for Tuesday’s meeting.

“It was also really quick. There was not a lot of time between when they announced it and the (date of the) meeting,” Gregorashuk said.

Tory addictions critic Jeff Bereza registered to attend. He said he’s concerned that invites were sent via email and they said an RSVP does not guarantee a seat at the meeting.

“This is not fair to the people of the area,” Bereza said. “It looks like this thing is being rammed through quickly without very many people knowing about it.”

Invites should have been hand-delivered to homes, businesses and other addresses in the area, with more notice given, he said.

Bereza said the NDP government announced the proposed location one day after the legislature began its winter break, meaning MLAs have no opportunity to debate the matter.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca