Planned Manitoba rules are a barrier to safe drug consumption sites, critics charge

The Manitoba government is planning new rules and licensing requirements for different kinds of addiction treatment centres, including supervised drug consumption sites.

Janice Morley-Lecomte, the minister for mental health and community wellness, says the province cannot stop supervised consumption sites from opening because the federal government has paved the way.

She says the province instead wants to set down rules to ensure that the centres offer proper medical supervision and other standards of care.

“Currently, anyone wishing to provide addictions services in Manitoba is not obligated to be licensed and there is no regulatory framework in place to evaluate the efficacy or safety of services delivered. This act corrects that gap, ensuring that all Manitobans have access to high quality, effective, and safe addictions services that promote pathways to recovery,” said Morley-Lecomte.

However, Point Douglas MLA Bernadette Smith, says the addictions crisis is a healthcare crisis and needs to be recognized as such by the government.

“Experts know it, people experiencing addictions know it and we know it on this side of the house, but this PC Government continues to take an ideological approach to addictions that ignores this reality and it’s costing Manitoban lives,” said Smith.

Members of Manitoba’s harm reduction community on the frontlines of the overdose crisis are also speaking out against the province’s new Addiction Services Act. They say it will do more harm, than it will help.

“In looking at the bill, we know that it is going to threaten current supervised consumption related services that are being executed here in the city, but we also know it’s going to put up additional barriers, primarily for a community-based response,” said Shohan Illsley, executive director of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.

The Manitoba Harm Reduction is one of seven groups speaking out against the bill, saying the move has left many in the community just “gutted” as the bill will put people at further risk.

“The draft of this bill was not done in consultation with those of us show are on the frontlines doing this work … FLASH … There’s a bit of a narrative that’s going around, that this bill is softening, or may look to support safe consumption services, those of us in the community can see there’s evidence that it’s not, that’s not the intention of it, in fact, this is an additional barrier to moving forward safe consumption services.”

A bill now before the legislature would require supervised drug consumption sites, bed-based addiction centres and other facilities to be licensed by the province.

The licence would spell out the kind of services that could be offered and standards of care, and people who break the rules could be fined up to $50,000 per day.

Jamil Mahmood, executive director of the Main Street Project, says the bill came as a shock, as they were kept in the dark despite a good working relationship with the government. Mahmood and others want to see the bill axed in its current form.

“We’d love to see the bill rescinded and give opportunities for groups to consult and create a bill that will actually serve Manitobans best.”

Wednesday the federal minister of mental health and addictions says she is concerned some may misunderstand the role harm reduction plays in reducing overdose deaths after the Manitoba government introduced legislation that would require licensing for supervised drug consumption sites.

-With files from the Canadian Press