Harm reduction advocates to voice support for bill at council meeting

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This article was published 13/05/2022 (1335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon City Council will hear about local efforts to reduce the harm associated with drug use and a private member’s bill aimed at improving the disclosure of information relating to overdose deaths at its regular meeting on Monday.

Local addictions treatment advocate Kim Longstreet is speaking in support of Bill 217, brought forward in the Manitoba Legislature by Point Douglas NDP MLA Bernadette Smith.

That bill would require the province to change how it collects and reports data on overdose deaths. In the slides for her presentation attached to the agenda for Monday’s meeting, Longstreet states Manitoba hasn’t publicly reported the number of opioid deaths since 2019, with data for subsequent years being compiled through inquiries made through the media.

“When a bill like this comes forward, it is another reason to bring shame to the issues felt across our province and your country,” Longstreet told the Sun in March. “By not supporting this bill, what you are saying is that lives don’t matter.”

Longstreet’s presentation will also touch on Bill C-216, a private member’s bill being advanced in the House of Commons by Courtney-Alberni NDP MP Gord Jones. If passed, that bill would decriminalize simple possession of drugs, provide a pathway for people convicted of simple possession and create a national policy to create a safer supply of drugs.

The MP has said these changes would reduce the number of deaths due to drug poisoning.

Finally, Longstreet will also outline local efforts by the Harm Reduction Network — Brandon as well as a local survey the group has conducted on locals who use drugs.

Council will hear from Tim Silversides of the Downtown Safety and Wellness Task Force on 12 recommendations that it has prepared, which include reinstating the Downtown Ambassador program, re-deploying benches throughout downtown, purchasing new refuse bins, enhancing access to sharps containers and more.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brandon City Council meetings were largely closed to the public and broadcast live over YouTube and WCGtv. City clerk Heather Ewasiuk will make a presentation requesting that council transfer $50,000 from the city’s IT reserve to fund upgrades to the audio/visual system in council chambers to better integrate the participation of people participating in council meetings virtuallly.

Two representatives from local Ukrainian-Canadian Association Tryzub, Julia Krykavska and Tatyana Morely, will make a presentation outlining what the local Ukrainian community is doing to help refugees fleeing the current war in their country.

Brandon Police Chief Wayne Balcaen will make a presentation on his organization’s review of the city’s animal control bylaw on its recommended changes stemming from that process.

After calling for a volunteer to join the city’s poverty committee, council will vote on the appointment of United Way of Brandon & District CEO Cynamon Mychasiw for a term starting immediately and ending on Dec. 31, 2023.

The organizers of the annual Food Truck Warz event will ask council to consider issuing a single business license covering all participating vendors instead of requiring that they each make an application.

Members of council will also vote on two bids, one from Tetra Tech Canada to undertake a review of the city’s municipal servicing standards at a cost of $213,425 and abid from Hodgson Construction Inc. to rehabilitate a ditch on Grand Valley Road near the research station at a cost of $224,829.45.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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