Rural Manitoba communities plead with province for help cleaning up used needles

When Rayna Badowski arrives at her Swan River, Man., dance studio, she grabs a shovel to scoop used needles from the front door so students can enter safely.

In 20 years of operation, she’s never had to worry about sharps outside the Swan School of Dance until recently. Now, they’re a common sight in her small western Manitoba town, she says.

“It seems like they’re being handed out, but it’s nobody’s job to clean them up,” Badowski said. “It would be nice if it was safe for everybody to be here, especially kids coming to dance class.”

Mayor Lance Jacobson says more than 500,000 needles have been handed out over the past year in the town, which has about 4,000 people, and the surrounding area.

While Prairie Mountain Health, the regional health authority, and the non-profit Manitoba Harm Reduction have been distributing sharps and other supplies for about 10 years, Jacobson says the town is now seeing an unprecedented number of discarded syringes.

“It’s not working,” said Jacobson. “It’s costing the taxpayers a lot of money … if it’s cleanup or even the crimes that come along with that.”

The town recently passed a resolution calling for an end to distribution of syringes within the town by any organization, and for work on figuring out a cleanup.

Jacobson said in a perfect world, he would like to see needle distribution end entirely, with a focus instead on rehabilitation programs.

The neighbouring municipality of Swan Valley West also passed a bylaw limiting harm reduction operations, restricting activities that aren’t approved and making organizations that hand out supplies responsible for cleanup costs. Breaking the rules can be punished by a fine of $1,000 per day, per location.

Reeve Bill Gade doesn’t think anybody is truly against the practice of harm reduction, but thinks changes are needed.

“If Tim Hortons had thousands of coffee cups laying on the ground, we’d be talking to Tim Hortons about what’s gone wrong, if they’re the only coffee cup out there. It’s the same thing with needles,” Gade said.

He and Jacobson want to work with the regional health authority, the province and others to come up with a plan that would ease cleanup costs for municipalities.

Swan River bylaw enforcement officer Derrick Piwish says he sees the costs of that cleanup personally. He gets up to six calls a day about needles in parks, playgrounds and on the sidewalk.  

“Sometimes you’ll go to pick up a dog … and you’ll have to end up retrieving needles,” Piwish said.

“It definitely does take out of the normal duties of catching dogs and giving out parking tickets and making sure the grass is cut.”

‘We want to work collaboratively’

Glenda Short, Prairie Mountain Health’s community and continuing care regional lead, says after an August meeting in Swan River, a committee that included members from the health authority, town and municipality, was tasked with coming up with a needle disposal plan.

“We want to work collaboratively with the community … as we have heard their concerns and issues,” Short said.

Prairie Mountain Health is still distributing harm reduction supplies to clients who ask, she said. 

Shohan Illsley, Manitoba Harm Reduction’s executive director, says the non-profit doesn’t want communities to have to deal with public drug use or discarded needles. 

In Swan River, the organization is now handing out small needle disposal containers — little black boxes that can be carried around in a backpack.

Manitoba Harm Reduction also continues to offer harm reduction supplies, while promoting education, including around how to dispose of needles and how harm reduction works.

“If people are having challenges related to their substance use, we want to support them to reduce those challenges,” she said. “It involves looking at the social determinants of health.”

Julie Baskier, who owns Swan River’s Empty Bobbin quilt shop and is a former social worker, says addictions need to be addressed differently in the community.

“I’m not opposed to harm reduction, but I’m losing my patience and compassion, because I’m not seeing it be effective,” Baskier said. “I’m actually seeing it get worse.”

Sharps are becoming a part of daily life, she said. Her young daughter recently saw three people using needles near her store.

“I wish our children could just go safely play,” Baskier said. “Our whole community is very disheartened by it, and our frustration is slowly becoming anger.”

Bernadette Smith, Manitoba’s minister for addictions, told CBC the province is working with Swan River and Swan Valley West and recently initiated a town sharps cleanup. 

She floated community cleanup up crews as an option, saying Swan River could create something similar to Winnipeg’s Bear Clan to pick up needles.

The province is also trying to tackle addiction with rapid access to addictions medicine clinics around the province, she said.

Looking for solutions

Swan River is bringing a resolution co-sponsored with The Pas to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities in November, calling for the province to address needle cleanup, as well as reviewing distribution practices and implementing a needle exchange program.

Kathy Valentino, the association’s interim president, says many municipalities are concerned about discarded needles, which raise concerns about safety and cleanup costs.

“We can’t have another downloaded cost. Municipalities are already struggling financially,” Valentino said. 

Dance school owner Badowski says something needs to change soon. She doesn’t want her students’ memories from the studio to be her picking up needles.

“We want to be safe in our town. We want to be safe to send our kids to school,” Badowski said.

“If you’re going to have a program work properly then all the steps need to be implemented properly.… Right now, it’s not working.”