‘Beacon of hope’: Manitoba’s 1st supervised consumption site to open in Winnipeg next year

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Peggy

Manitoba’s first supervised consumption site — which the province says will also be the first in Canada that is Indigenous-led — will open next year in Winnipeg, but exactly where and when has yet to be determined.

That didn’t mute any of the celebrating on Friday, though, when the provincial government said it will provide $727,000 to support the development of the future site — part of the $2.5 million already committed in this year’s budget.

“Today is a very, very special day. Today is a celebration,” said Monica Cyr, senior director of clinical operations at the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre, which will steer the creation and development of the site.

It will be a safe space where people can use drugs while near staff trained to respond to accidental overdoses and other emergencies.

A wide shot shows the interior of a large and crowded room — Friday’s announcement was made at the Neeginan Centre on Higgins Avenue, where the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre is based. (Gilbert Rowan/CBC)

Supervised sites typically include both consumption spaces and post-consumption common areas, according to a news release from the province, along with providing sterile needles and other consumption equipment.

Cyr said the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre-led site will also offer primary health care, and addiction treatment through the rapid access to addiction medicine, or RAAM, clinic at the centre.

Mental health counselling, day programming, and a drop-in space with social services, including laundry facilities, will also be available.

“From addiction to treatment, our [consumption site] is a wraparound model of care,” she said, adding the centre is presently working with a commercial Realtor to find a location somewhere west of Main Street.

It can’t be near schools but must be in a location accessible to people who use drugs, she said.

A woman with a headband speaks at a microphone — Monica Cyr said the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre-led consumption site will offer wraparound care. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

“The decision as to where we will land will be made with much input from government and community partners, and most certainly peers,” Cyr said as cheers, applause and shouts filled the room at the Neeginan Centre on Higgins Avenue, the former Canadian Pacific Railway Station where the wellness centre is based.

‘Much work ahead’: addictions minister

The partnership between the province and the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre, as well as the 2025 target date and a few other details around the consumption site, were announced earlier this week by Premier Wab Kinew.

Friday’s announcement clarified some details, including the search for a location west of Main.

But “we have much work ahead” to bring the site to life, said Bernadette Smith, Manitoba’s minister for housing, addictions and homelessness.

“We know that there’s a toxic drug supply out there and we know that we need more supports. And this supervised consumption site is going to provide those supports,” she said.

“The site will be a beacon of hope and resilience for our relatives,” said Smith, who also said it will be the country’s first Indigenous-led site.

A woman with long brown hair speaks at a podium — Bernadette Smith became emotional while talking about the battles her family has faced with addictions. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

The site will be an important component of the province’s broader health-care system, she said before her voice wavered as she teetered into tears, speaking about her family’s struggles with addictions.

Her dad died 22 years ago, and on Thursday, her family began a ceremony for her sister who just lost her own addictions battle, Smith said.

“This supervised consumption site is going to help create a place for people to have someone to open the door to compassion, to caring, to supports,” she said.

According to preliminary data from the Manitoba chief medical examiner’s office, there were 89 suspected substance-related deaths in the first two months of 2024, a number that could still rise.

The 56 deaths reported in January is a record in a single month. The preliminary data also suggests there were 445 deaths in 2023 and a record 467 deaths in 2022.

Manitoba is the only province west of Atlantic Canada that does not have a supervised consumption site.

Stainless steel tables with dividers between them — The Prairie Harm Reduction supervised consumption site in Saskatoon is shown in a 2020 file photo. Supervised sites typically include both consumption spaces and post-consumption common areas, the province of Manitoba said in its Friday news release. (Kayle Neis/The Canadian Press)

For more than a year and a half, Sunshine House has operated a mobile overdose prevention site out of an RV, the closest Manitoba has to a permanent site.

“Make no mistake, unsanctioned consumption sites already exist in our city — in back lanes, public washrooms, along the riverbanks and in parks,” said Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre executive director Della Herrera.

A supervised consumption site will save lives and “is well overdue,” she said.

“The urban Indigenous community is strong. And we, along with our community partners and allies, are prepared to do this work. We will not let you down.”