By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
The exterior of the Manitoba legislature is seen in Winnipeg on November 6, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
The Manitoba government has chosen a location for the province’s first proposed supervised drug consumption site, but critics say there are safety concerns for the surrounding area that includes a high school and child-care centre.
The province has selected 200 Disraeli Freeway, in Winnipeg’s core area, for a facility that would allow people to inject drugs, with staff on hand to respond to overdoses and guide people toward treatment. It would not provide drug supply.
The location is very close to homeless shelters, health agencies and community outreach groups. Bernadette Smith, the minister for housing, addictions and homelessness, said the site would help people in need.
“There is unsupervised drug use that is going on in and around that area as we speak,” Smith, who represents the area in the legislature, said Wednesday.
The site is also across a busy six-lane street from a high school, with an elevated pedestrian walkway connecting the two.
Premier Wab Kinew said in July that any supervised consumption site should probably not be near schools. Smith said Wednesday the government would not proceed until safety concerns are addressed, and plans already include a fence around the property and patrols by police and community safety workers.
“We’ve assured (the Winnipeg School Division) that we will not proceed unless that is a safe and secure site,” Smith said.
The school division’s superintendent said there will be consultation with families on the project and any concerns will be forwarded to the province.
“If the site can support folks in the community, we see benefits at this point around mitigating some (of) the current safety concerns,” Matt Henderson wrote in an email.
“But until we see a fully fleshed-out plan, we cannot provide further comment.”
The NDP government announced in the summer it would put up $727,000 to support development of an Indigenous-led supervised consumption site in partnership with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre of Winnipeg. The centre is about one block away from the proposed supervised consumption site, and offers a range of supports including addiction treatment.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives said many area residents have not been consulted.
“As a mother … I would be concerned that maybe my children have to walk from the daycare to the school and have to walk past a location like that,” Tory legislature member Carrie Hiebert said.
The Manitoba Métis Federation, which has a building in the area, said it has concerns about putting the facility near homeless shelters and other services.
“The entire strategy so far has been to dump and push everything into this one kind of half-a-block radius,” federation president David Chartrand said.
The site should be placed in a building with other health-care services, he added.
The government had earlier said it was aiming to have the site up and running in 2025. Smith would not commit to a date when asked Wednesday.
“We’re not going to move forward until we are sure that it is safe and secure in and around the area,” Smith said.
Health Canada, which must approve the site, said it received an application for the location on Nov. 21, and the project is listed on the department’s website as being in the “screening stage.”
“Applicants must fulfil certain requirements, including conducting community consultations and providing a report of these consultations to Health Canada,” the department said in an email.
“Applicants must also describe how they will address concerns raised during the consultation process. This information helps Health Canada understand the efforts that have been made to engage with the community to inform them of the proposal as well as the goals, objectives and services that would be offered by the site, and what measures the site is taking to address any relevant concerns.”
