Keep children safe from drug consumption sites

Kildonan – St. Paul

The Government of Manitoba is considering opening a supervised drug consumption site in Winnipeg less than 200 metres from a local park. For many families, this proposal is deeply troubling. Parks should be places of safety, recreation, and community life. Parents should not have to worry about discarded needles, drug paraphernalia, or unpredictable behaviour linked to nearby drug use in areas where their children play.

Winnipeggers do not need to imagine what the area around these taxpayer-funded drug consumption sites could look like. In cities across Canada, residents and business owners have consistently described the same patterns emerging around them – open drug use spilling into surrounding streets, loitering and disorder, visible intoxication, and hazardous debris in public spaces. These conditions do not remain neatly contained within the walls of a facility – they affect entire neighbourhoods.

Here in Winnipeg, the challenges facing our downtown are already highly visible. Homelessness, addiction and public disorder are frequent concerns raised by families, seniors, and local businesses.

I hear these concerns regularly from constituents. Adding a supervised drug consumption site near a park risks intensifying those problems, not alleviating them, particularly for nearby residents and children.

This concern is not hypothetical. In Toronto, a mother of two, Caroline Huebner-Makurat, was tragically killed after being struck by a stray bullet during a drug-related shooting near a supervised consumption site in 2023. While no single policy causes violence, this incident underscores the very real risks that can accompany concentrated drug activity near supervised consumption sites in residential areas.

Compassion for those struggling with addiction is essential, and compassion must include accountability, public safety, and a clear focus on recovery. Governments should be investing in treatment, detox, and long-term recovery programs, not placing drug consumption sites near places where children live and play.

If you share these concerns, I encourage you to make your voice heard. Decisions about this proposed site rest with the Manitoba government. Residents should contact their local MLAs to express opposition and demand that children’s safety, neighbourhood stability, and recovery-focused solutions come first.