Harm reduction advocates welcome supervised consumption site

The province is set to open a supervised consumption site. The new facility will appear among Winnipeg frontline resources as early as January.

“The urgency is that people are dying of overdoses in our province all the time. This is one of the tools the doctors and addiction medicine tell us will help,” said Premier Wab Kinew.

Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette is a member of Moms Stop the Harm. She hopes the much-needed sites will soon appear in Brandon and rural communities.

“Supervised consumption site opening in Winnipeg for the first time, when they are closing them in other places in Canada, makes me proud that Manitoba is moving forward when other provinces are moving backwards,” said Gravel-Ouellette.

Sandi Shaver runs her own community group, “Sandals for Streets”. Her son passed away in 2016 due to a fentanyl overdose. He lived with a substance use disorder since he was 13.

Shaver says she was excited to learn about the upcoming consumption site, but says the province should have opened the facility years ago.

“It’s been since 2016 that I’ve been fighting for this. We were hearing: ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s coming!’ and it never came. So I don’t know if it ever comes or is just false hope for everyone,” said Shaver.

“We can’t stop them from using, we can teach them how to use safely, and give them the tools to stay safe.”

Shaver is also calling for more wraparound supports and treatment beds

While criticizing the recent provincial initiative of the 72-hour detention centre. She says, a safe consumption site is a more compassionate way to help those with substance use disorder.

“You don’t wake up one day and say: ‘Well, today I will go and use, and become a substance user for the rest of my life.’ There’s trauma that needs to be addressed,” said Shaver.

The province did not release the location of the supervised consumption site.

As of Wednesday, there is no submitted application with Health Canada for the site.

The only application was submitted by Sunshine House, with the plans to open the facility in January of 2026.

CityNews reached out to the Minister of Housing, Addictions, and Homelessness for an update on location and staffing, but has not heard back at this time.

“What we do know about the supervised consumption sites from all the research and evidence, not one person has died at the supervised consumption site. So it is about saving lives,” said Gravel-Ouellette.

Shaver says, “I often wonder what he’d be doing now. Would he be married, would he have business, would he have children? I don’t get to have that now.”