Manitoba\u2019s first supervised drug consumption site could be open within a few weeks, even as some nearby residents continue to oppose the idea.<\/p>\n
The NDP government said Thursday it is setting up a temporary mobile structure at the site in central Winnipeg, while work continues on an existing building and getting federal approval for a permanent operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor two and a half years, we\u2019ve been trying to set up a site,\u201d Bernadette Smith, the minister for addictions, told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the fastest way we can get one set up, so we\u2019re going to be moving with our partners to set one up as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The province has opted to use a federal provision that allows provinces to run temporary sites, officially called urgent public health need sites, without formal approval from Ottawa. A full, permanent operation with federal approval could be up and running by next winter, Smith said.<\/p>\n
The NDP government, in partnership with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, submitted a licensing request with Health Canada in 2024 for a site at 200 Disraeli Freeway, in the core area of Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
The idea quickly ran into opposition from many local residents, who said the location was too close to schools, a child-care centre and some homes.<\/p>\n
The province backtracked and announced a new location, several blocks away at 366 Henry Ave., last December. The site is farther from any school and the area is less residential.<\/p>\n
But there are some homes, a restaurant and other businesses not far away. Some business owners and residents have opposed the new site, and have said the government has not provided any guarantees about security, access by minors and other issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has not addressed any \u2014 and I stress any \u2014 of the community\u2019s concerns about safety and management of the site,\u201d Ed Gallos, owner of Master Roofing, said Thursday. His business is adjacent to the planned consumption site.<\/p>\n
In a press release Friday, the Singing Red Bear Foundation founder Joseph Fourre said, the government\u2019s decision to move forward with the project without any data collection and the ability of the youth as young as 14 to access the site was concerning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe provincial government is clearly moving in a different direction with the opening of this site and putting no safeguards in place to prevent underage use,\u201d Fourre said.<\/p>\n
The site would not provide drugs for users, but would offer an indoor space where users could inject drugs under the eye of staff who could prevent overdoses and help guide addicts toward treatment.<\/p>\n
Smith said people are currently using drugs, unsupervised, in public areas, so the new facility is a better option.<\/p>\n
She promised beefed-up security around the site, including foot patrols.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working closely with police,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gallos said he is not convinced.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a frustrating experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manitoba\u2019s first supervised drug consumption site could be open within a few weeks, even as some nearby residents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-518742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}