Addictions advocates relieved by bill’s delay

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This article was published 04/04/2023 (1272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Addiction advocates in Westman are relieved that the Manitoba government has been prevented from regulating supervised consumption sites but add there are still barriers to break down.

On Monday, the NDP successfully delayed Bill 33, which was introduced by Mental Health and Community Wellness Minister Janice Morley-Lecomte on March 16, outlining a new system that would require treatment centres and sites to acquire a provincial licence and would face steep fines of up to $50,000 a day if they broke the rules.

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government had previously opposed safe consumption sites for substance users until proposing Bill 33, which prompted several organizations to speak out against it, including Moms Stop the Harm, Overdose Awareness Manitoba, Manitoba Health Coalition and Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.

Lynda Plaisier, whose 44-year-old son Robin died from fentanyl poisoning nearly two years ago, has found grief support with Moms Stop the Harm in Brandon. Not a day goes by that Plaisier doesn’t think of her son, she said, and insisted it’s important to listen to organizations that are trying to help those struggling with addictions.

“I trust the people that are doing it, of course, because they know what they’re doing. The government doesn’t have a vision like we do, who’ve lost our sons or fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, even our friends,” Plaisier said.

In each legislative session, Manitoba’s official opposition can delay up to five bills until the fall, and the NDP chose Bill 33 as its first this year, according to leader Wab Kinew. With an election set to happen on or before Oct. 3, the delay means the bill may not become law.

“I think a lot of the organizations that were feeling anxiety that Bill 33 was going to put their efforts at risk, perhaps now they can breathe a little easier and focus on the actual work of helping those Manitobans struggling with addictions,” Kinew said.

The front-line addictions organizations would have been buried in red tape, insisted Kinew, who accused the PC government of prioritizing ideology over science.

“At a time when we’re losing so many lives, we can’t have an approach based on ideology,” Kinew said.

Now is the time to continue to break down stereotypes and abandon outdated language, labels and judgments, said Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette, chair of Brandon and Area Overdose Awareness.

“Sometimes problematic substance use can be viewed as a moral failing, as a choice, and I’ve heard comments like, ‘well, people do it to themselves,’ or ‘why don’t they just quit?’ Do you realize how many people would just quit if they could?” Gravel-Ouellette said.

A supporter of supervised consumption sites, Gravel-Ouellette said Manitoba is the only province west of the Maritimes that does not have them, and she insisted many people don’t know that their function is saving lives.

“People don’t go to a supervised consumption site to receive substances to use; they bring their own substances, and they’re monitored to make sure that they do not die from taking the substance,” said Gravel-Ouellette.

Although the legislation has been halted, Thomas Linner, the provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, said the conversation needs to continue in support of supervised consumption sites.

If the Progressive Conservative government is re-elected, he said, they could give the bill new life and try to pass it again with the same regulations, which would hurt those who need the services the most.

“A lot of people are cut off from a whole heck of a lot of the social safety nets that you and I take for granted, and for many reasons, they don’t feel safe in our institutional settings,” Linner said.

“So, treatments have to be low barrier, and no judgment. Because if they’re not, we’re going to miss the people who we need to serve. And the reality is that someone will die of an overdose somewhere in Manitoba tonight. That’s the reality.”

Speaking to media later in the day, Morley-Lecomte said the proposed legislation is about keeping vulnerable Manitobans safe.

“This bill isn’t about roadblocks — it’s about safety for Manitobans and those most vulnerable who are seeking addiction services through providers,” she said. “This bill will provide individuals with safe sites that they can access. It will allow them to have medical individuals and also a pathway to recovery.”

Morley-Lecomte said she would support the bill again, as is, if it is reintroduced at a later date.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press