Drug-site proposal gets rough ride at Point Douglas meeting

Residents and business owners haven’t softened their opposition to the proposed supervised drug consumption site downtown despite efforts by the province and managing organization to quell their concerns.

Dozens of people gathered at the Pampanga Restaurant on Henry Avenue Tuesday night to hear from a panel of officials. The restaurant is located across the street from the proposed site at 366 Henry Ave.

The panel consisted of Monica Cyr, CEO of the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre of Winnipeg, who will be managing the site, Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins, Tory MP Dan Mazier, Winnipeg police Chief Gene Bowers and Wayne Balcaen, the provincial Tory justice critic.

The event was moderated by Derek Finkle, a Toronto freelance journalist who has been an outspoken critic of supervised consumption sites. He said he was asking questions on behalf of attendees who had submitted questions prior to the three-hour event.

Cyr said the supervised consumption site is not the be-all, end-all solution to the addictions crisis in Winnipeg.

“We need more detox, we need more programs,” she told the crowd. Cyr said she went around the area with a “good neighbour commitment,” an eight-page document outlining its obligations to the neighbourhood to spell out how issues will be identified and resolved.

Bowers acknowledged the city has an addictions crisis. He said it isn’t his role to say whether the city should have a supervised consumption site, but rather to address problems that might arise from it such as violence or drug trafficking.

“My job is to make sure the people of Winnipeg are safe,” he said.

At times, attendees booed Cyr and Rollins while they spoke.

The proposed site is a space where people can use their own illegal drugs under the supervision of staff. The site will provide drug testing, offer treatment options and connect clients to social supports.

The site has been delayed several months because it needs to be approved by Health Canada, Premier Wab Kinew said last month.

On Health Canada’s website, the site isn’t listed as an open application or an authorized site not yet offering services.

Several meetings and town halls have been held since it was announced late last year. The location has been denounced by residents and business owners, who say it will bring more trouble to the downtrodden area.

The province initially planned to open the facility at 200 Disraeli Fwy., but community opposition — in part because of its proximity to a school and park — forced the government to find a new site.

Manitoba is one of the only provinces with no supervised consumption site.

Christopher Deleon, who lives down the street from the proposed site, said any person in their “clear mind” would not support a supervised consumption site in their neighbourhood.

“Look at that guy,” Deleon said outside the restaurant after the meeting as he gestured to a man wrapped in a Salvation Army blanket who was walking down Henry Avenue.

“You don’t know what he will be doing later. If he consumes drugs, he could be in your yard.”

Finkle asked Cyr how the organization would be able to police “micro” drug activity outside the site, including drug dealing. Cyr said the organization would enforce municipal laws, and she encouraged residents and business owners to report any illicit activity.

The site has contracted private security to patrol the area, as well as foot patrols from the Downtown Community Safety Partnership to keep the streets free of garbage and drug paraphernalia.

“As a collective, we are working together,” Cyr said.

Another attendee, who asked not to be named, said she doesn’t support the harm-reduction approach. When she was in the throes of her meth addiction, she didn’t care about using clean needles or discarding them properly.

“It’s not in your mind to care about others. It’s not in your mind to think about children or about schools or anything,” she said. “Harm reduction enables (drug use), if anything.”

Having a consumption site near her home and witnessing drug use could put her at risk of relapsing, she said.

Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith, who is the Point Douglas MLA, wasn’t able to attend the public meeting because of a scheduling conflict. A legislature committee was reviewing Smith’s Bill 16, the Mental Health Amendment Act, Tuesday night.

The bill would authorize physician assistants, clinical assistants and nurse practitioners to conduct examinations and apply for involuntary psychiatric assessments.

A supervised consumption site is being forced on the residents of Point Douglas and the NDP government opted not to engage with them, Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said in the legislature earlier in the day.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“So much for a listening government,” he said. Khan attended Tuesday’s meeting,

In a statement Tuesday evening, the minister said she has attended multiple meetings and met with residents, business owners and community organizations in the area.

“Hearing directly from community members has been an important part of this work for me,” the statement said.

– with files from Carol Sanders

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole 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.