Consumption site can’t wait

Opinion

When Premier Wab Kinew handed Bernadette Smith, the minister of housing, addictions, and homelessness, her mandate letter in October of 2023, he tasked her with eight key priorities, four of which are specifically related to substance use and addictions.

Chief among these priorities was moving forward on opening a permanent supervised consumption site (SCS).

In setting these priorities, the NDP showed courage and leadership on this crucial issue — rightly emphasizing that SCS and other harm reduction strategies are a life-saving form of medical care. These priorities acknowledged the urgency of the toxic drug crisis and the lives and families it has destroyed.

Nearly two years later, that sense of urgency has been tempered.

The last public engagement on establishing a permanent SCS was in January of this year. In July, the promise was that a SCS would be open by the end of 2025. As of this September, however, the deadline has shifted to the end of the NDP’s first term in 2027, after the government decided to abandon efforts to establish Manitoba’s first permanent SCS at 200 Disraeli due to community concerns.

Community safety concerns must always be taken seriously. At the same time, public policy — especially health policy — should be guided by the best available evidence.

Research consistently shows that SCSs save lives and contribute to healthier, safer communities overall.

Wherever a site is located, some degree of community opposition is inevitable. Government should work to educate and engage residents, addressing their questions and fears, while still moving urgently to establish an SCS in Winnipeg as part of a comprehensive, provincewide strategy.

This is an issue that impacts all Manitobans, and all perspectives must be heard, but there needs to be a clear process for consultation and a clear set of targets and timelines to see the site established.

Addressing the drug toxicity crisis is a policy issue with life and death consequences.

This summer, medical experts sounded the alarm yet again, emphasizing that overdoses are the biggest public health issue Canada has ever faced. In 2024, Manitoba health data show that there were 5,172 substance-related hospital admissions and 570 substance-related deaths in our province.

These are our community members. They leave behind families and friends who love them.

At the Manitoba Legislative Building on Aug. 29, advocates, peers, and family members gathered to share resources and support each other for Overdose (or, more accurately, drug poisoning) Awareness Day. Photos and purple ribbons with the names of community members were placed on the steps and across the lawn, remembering the lives lost. Peers who had experienced drug poisonings themselves spoke about how harm reduction and access to SCSs helped save their lives.

It is impossible not to be moved when hearing such stories, when seeing the faces of Manitobans of all ages who lost their lives.

Standing on those same steps of the legislature on Aug. 29, Minister Smith promised that her government remained committed to establishing a permanent SCS while continuing to support the life-saving work of Sunshine House’s Mobile Overdose Prevention Site.

It was a powerful speech, reflecting her experience as a parent, and as a minister who was following the evidence that shows harm reduction saves lives.

The commitment of Smith and the entire provincial government to harm reduction needs to be backed by stronger action.

Delaying further on establishing a permanent SCS in Winnipeg puts lives at risk, and doesn’t help make the city as a whole any safer. As a new location is being considered — and after it has been established — it is essential that the work of harm reduction organizations receive the funding and political support necessary to address the ongoing toxic drug crisis in our city and province.

Manitoba must not follow the regressive and ideologically driven example of the current Alberta government and abandon harm reduction strategies like SCS.

Forced treatment does not work. Harm reduction, drug testing, and supervised consumption does. It keeps individuals and communities safer, and reduces strain on the public health-care system, leaving room for effective treatments and mental health supports.

The NDP must show urgency and recapture their courage on this issue — leading the way for the development of Canada’s first Indigenous-led SCS as just one part of a comprehensive strategy to address the drug toxicity crisis across Manitoba.

Noah Schulz is the provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.