Manitoba NDP delays Addictions Services Act until fall

The Manitoba NDP is delaying a bill that would require licensing for supervised drug consumption sites in the province.

Bill 33, Manitoba’s Addictions Services Act, has been heavily criticized by advocates who say it threatens work already being done to address overdoses.

“Bill 33 threatens the very existence of harm reduction in this province – and that means it puts lives in jeopardy,” NDP critic for mental health and addictions Bernadette Smith said in a statement.

“To keep the hope of recovery alive we have to keep people alive. That’s why we are standing with experts, community organizations and families to stop Bill 33.”

The bill 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. Those who break the rules could be fined up to $50,000 per day.

---

RELATED:

• Criticism mounts of Manitoba’s Addictions Services Act: ‘creating more barriers’
• Planned Manitoba rules are a barrier to safe drug consumption sites, critics charge
• Bennett backs supervised consumption sites day after Manitoba bill on licensing them

---

“More than one person dies of a drug overdose every day in Manitoba,” said Smith. “But instead of taking action to save our loved ones, the PCs are putting up roadblocks for organizations that are doing the real work.”

The Progressive Conservative government has long opposed calls to allow supervised consumption sites; Manitoba has been the only province west of the Maritimes without one.

Last fall, Sunshine House received a federal exemption under drug laws to operate a mobile overdose prevention van in central Winnipeg with harm-reduction supplies on board.

“We can’t stop them under the federal exemptions, but what we can do through the standardization of our policies (is) ensure that anyone accessing is able to seek it in a safe environment,” Janice Morley-Lecomte, the minister for mental health and community wellness, said when the bill was introduced March 14.

WATCH: Advocates want Manitoba’s Addiction Services Act scrapped

Bill 33 was met with vocal opposition from the Manitoba NDP, the Manitoba Health Coalition, Main Street Project, the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network and various community organizations.

“From Brian Pallister throwing a harm reduction report on the floor, to Premier Stefanson’s claims about a non-existent safe consumption site in California – the PCs have made the addictions crisis worse in Manitoba,” said NDP Leader Wab Kinew in a statement.

Each session Manitoba’s official Opposition can delay five pieces of legislation into the fall sittings.

Kinew, Smith and harm-reduction advocates held a press conference at Sunshine House in Winnipeg Monday morning.

—With files from The Canadian Press