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![\"Nicole](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4221207_web1_Consumption-site-meeting.jpeg\")
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Nicole Buffie \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
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Dozens of people gathered at the Pampanga Restaurant on Henry Avenue across the street from a proposed supervised drug consumption site Tuesday night to hear from a panel of officials.<\/p>\n
The event was moderated by Derek Finkle, a Toronto freelance journalist who has been an outspoken critic of supervised consumption sites. He said he was asking questions on behalf of attendees who had submitted questions prior to the three-hour event.<\/p>\n
Cyr said the supervised consumption site is not the be-all, end-all solution to the addictions crisis in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need more detox, we need more programs,\u201d she told the crowd. Cyr said she went around the area with a \u201cgood neighbour commitment,\u201d an eight-page document outlining its obligations to the neighbourhood to spell out how issues will be identified and resolved.<\/p>\n
Bowers acknowledged the city has an addictions crisis. He said it isn\u2019t his role to say whether the city should have a supervised consumption site, but rather to address problems that might arise from it such as violence or drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to make sure the people of Winnipeg are safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At times, attendees booed Cyr and Rollins while they spoke.<\/p>\n
The proposed site is a space where people can use their own illegal drugs under the supervision of staff. The site will provide drug testing, offer treatment options and connect clients to social supports.<\/p>\n
The site has been delayed several months because it needs to be approved by Health Canada, Premier Wab Kinew said last month.<\/p>\n
On Health Canada\u2019s website, the site isn\u2019t listed as an open application or an authorized site not yet offering services.<\/p>\n
Several meetings and town halls have been held since it was announced late last year. The location has been denounced by residents and business owners, who say it will bring more trouble to the downtrodden area.<\/p>\n
The province initially planned to open the facility at 200 Disraeli Fwy., but community opposition \u2014 in part because of its proximity to a school and park \u2014 forced the government to find a new site.<\/p>\n
Manitoba is one of the only provinces with no supervised consumption site.<\/p>\n
Christopher Deleon, who lives down the street from the proposed site, said any person in their \u201cclear mind\u201d would not support a supervised consumption site in their neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at that guy,\u201d Deleon said outside the restaurant after the meeting as he gestured to a man wrapped in a Salvation Army blanket who was walking down Henry Avenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know what he will be doing later. If he consumes drugs, he could be in your yard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkle asked Cyr how the organization would be able to police \u201cmicro\u201d drug activity outside the site, including drug dealing. Cyr said the organization would enforce municipal laws, and she encouraged residents and business owners to report any illicit activity.<\/p>\n
The site has contracted private security to patrol the area, as well as foot patrols from the Downtown Community Safety Partnership to keep the streets free of garbage and drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a collective, we are working together,\u201d Cyr said.<\/p>\n
Another attendee, who asked not to be named, said she doesn\u2019t support the harm-reduction approach. When she was in the throes of her meth addiction, she didn\u2019t care about using clean needles or discarding them properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not in your mind to care about others. It\u2019s not in your mind to think about children or about schools or anything,\u201d she said. \u201cHarm reduction enables (drug use), if anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having a consumption site near her home and witnessing drug use could put her at risk of relapsing, she said.<\/p>\n
Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith, who is the Point Douglas MLA, wasn\u2019t able to attend the public meeting because of a scheduling conflict. A legislature committee was reviewing Smith\u2019s Bill 16, the Mental Health Amendment Act, Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The bill would authorize physician assistants, clinical assistants and nurse practitioners to conduct examinations and apply for involuntary psychiatric assessments.<\/p>\n
A supervised consumption site is being forced on the residents of Point Douglas and the NDP government opted not to engage with them, Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said in the legislature earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo much for a listening government,\u201d he said. Khan attended Tuesday\u2019s meeting,<\/p>\n
In a statement Tuesday evening, the minister said she has attended multiple meetings and met with residents, business owners and community organizations in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cHearing directly from community members has been an important part of this work for me,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u2013 with files from Carol Sanders<\/p>\n
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Nicole Buffie Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College\u2019s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Multimedia producer
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