Mazier introduces consumption-site legislation

Legislation introduced by a Westman MP on Thursday could see supervised drug consumption sites limited to areas that are not frequented by children.

Riding Mountain Conservative MP Dan Mazier, who serves as the federal health critic, introduced Bill C-272, which would prevent consumption sites from being within 500 metres of schools, daycares and playgrounds.

“Canadians in communities right across this country are living with drugs and disorder that cluster around these sites,” Mazier said at a press conference in Ottawa Thursday morning.

“Parents are shielding their children from open drug use on the same streets where they walk to school.”

Mazier pointed to a daycare that closed its doors because of drug use in the surrounding area.

In 2023, Sandy Hill Child Care in Ottawa closed, citing concerns over homelessness, drug use and violence outside the church it operated in.

The daycare later reopened in a different location.

Ontario added a 200-metre buffer zone for consumption sites from schools and child-care centres in 2024.

“The Liberals have been approving these drug sites for years without looking at what’s next door,” Mazier said.

Supervised consumption sites provide a safe, clean space for people to bring and use their own drugs in the presence of trained staff, the federal government’s website says. They generally include nursing staff, social workers and peer and community workers. Trained staff are present in the event of an overdose.

Mazier said on a federal level, sites don’t have age limits.

Some provinces, including Manitoba, generally serve people 16 or older.

“A teenager in a school next door — God, this just makes me mad — who is curious about trying drugs, facing peer pressure, can walk into a federally approved site and use hard drugs for the first time,” he said.

He added that the sites are magnets for drugs.

“People are using drugs, street drugs, and meanwhile, there’s a daycare — toddlers are beside these people that are using drugs back and forth, and bunch of nefarious things are going on,” Mazier said in a followup interview with the Sun.

“I don’t think the normalizing drug use beside a toddler and seeing someone smoke crack cocaine on the steps of their entry to their school is normal.”

He said the legislation is “a good first step.”

“There’ll still be a tool available to other people that … are addicted and need these sites. But first and foremost, we need to get these away from kids.”

The legislation would make things much safer for families, Mazier added.

He also cited a study that found when consumption sites are closed, people have a tendency to seek treatment instead of continuing drug use.

A request for comment from Liberal Health Minister Marjorie Michel was answered by a press secretary on Thursday.

“Addictions have devastating impacts on families and communities, which is why we all need to work together to save lives and keep communities safe,” Emmanuelle Ducharme said in an email.

“We look forward to reviewing MP Mazier’s bill when it is debated in Parliament.”

Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette, a member of Moms Stop the Harm in Brandon, said she’s not opposed to the legislation itself.

“Deciding where to strategically put them, I’m not in opposition to that,” Gravel-Ouellette said.

She said Mazier’s press conference included “innuendoes” and “misinformation,” including how people use the sites.

She disputed several points Mazier made during the press conference, including on youth using the sites.

“Number one, the minors would be bringing their own substances. They’re not given substances there. And number two, if they decide to use hard drugs for the first time, thank God they would use a supervised consumption site so they won’t die from the toxic drug poisoning,” Gravel-Ouellette said.

“The fact that he’s spinning this in a way that is going to protect our children. Guess what? Children and adults are going to use substances regardless. So why are we not trying to keep them alive so that they are able to get the support that they need?”

She said the peer-reviewed study Mazier cited is a case of “cherry picking in order to put forward their own perspective or ideology around this.”

“He really pulls up a lot of stigma around people that use substances.”

Mazier’s bill was given first reading in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Speaker of the House Francis Scarpaleggia said the bill will be read again during the next sitting of the house, scheduled for April 13.

When Mazier was asked how he thinks the bill will be received by the rest of the government, he said Michel can take his bill and implement it anytime.

“She’s had the opportunity. She’s known about this for at least six months now since I’ve been critic. I’ve been very vocal about what’s going on around these consumption drug sites,” Mazier said.

» alambert@brandonsun.com