Manitoba’s minister of housing, addiction and homelessness says the province’s safe consumption site in Winnipeg is making the neighbourhood safer. However, some residents aren’t willing to go that far.
“It’s crazy. It’s not safe,” says Jose Valentim, who manages Four Seasons Auto Body, located a block away from the site.
“They should come here, work here to see it. It’s nice to talk about it and be out of the place, but that hurts. That hurts because a lot of businesses, they move out of here.”
The cabinet minister, Bernadette Smith, said in question period at the Manitoba Legislature Building on Monday that based on what her department heard from businesses and community members in the area, the neighbourhood is “even safer than it was before” the safe consumption site was opened.
“No, it’s impossible,” Valentim, who has worked in the area since 1977, said in response to Smith’s comments.
“It’s not safe. I see different faces even this week,” he said, adding one of the vehicles at his business was broken into. “It was a lady with a face I’ve never seen before, but I can see was with drugs, heavy on drugs.”
The site, which opened on Henry Avenue in August, is meant to reduce the risk of fatal overdoses. It does not supply drugs.
The Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre runs the site, with physician oversight and eight staff members on duty, 24/7 security and capacity for 12 clients at a time.
Manitoba’s first supervised consumption site opened on Henry Avenue in August. (CBC)
Originally supposed to open in 2025, the site has faced opposition over concerns about how effective it would be in discouraging drug use and how it would affect the area.
Kelly Hughes has lived in the area for nearly 12 years. Living about 250 metres away, he says he hasn’t really noticed any difference in the neighbourhood since the site opened. However, he isn’t willing to go as far as saying the area is any safer.
“It’s been two months. So, you know, it doesn’t seem like that long,” said Hughes, who said he’s in favour of harm-reduction strategies.
“I don’t know that I would say that it’s safer. I would say that it’s not any worse, which I think is a win.”
Some people said the site would be “the worst thing ever,” Hughes said, adding, “I kind of don’t see anything.”
In response to CBC News, Winnipeg police say there haven’t been any significant incidents at the site since it opened.
Hughes sees the site as another service being provided to the community, and an admirable attempt by the government to see how successful it could be in preventing fatal overdoses.
“I think that in terms of the upside, as long as it doesn’t get any worse for the, you know, the neighbours, the stakeholders… whoever the, you know, people are that have had concerns — that’s great,” Hughes said.
Kelly Hughes, who lives near the site, says he hasn’t really noticed any change in the neighbourhood since it opened. (Randall McKenzie/CBC)
“But really, what it’s for is, it’s for the people who are — we’ve got a poisoned drug supply. It’s for the people that are dying.”
Valentim says places that offer help for people addicted to drugs are certainly needed. However, he’d like to see resources and money put into efforts aimed at getting hard drugs off the streets.
“They should go after the drugs or whoever sells the drugs,” he said.
“I feel sad because I’m here for so many years, and like I told you, it’s a beautiful place right in downtown. But at the same time, it’s very scary.”