After Manitoba introduced Bill 33, the Addiction Services Act, on Tuesday, community groups in the addictions field say they weren’t consulted and it ignores the work they have been doing for years.
The bill outlines how addiction treatment in the province can and can’t be carried out, and it would put in place rules for licensing and inspecting facilities.
“We were a bit blindsided by it. Not a bit – we were absolutely blindsided by it,” said Shohan Illsley, executive director of Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.
Illsley said she is worried the bill will increase harm rather than reduce it.
“Upon reviewing the bill, we in the community are pretty sure the bill is going to threaten our current MOPS with Sunshine House, as well as any other sites that have a federal exemption.”
MOPS is a mobile overdose prevention site run by Sunshine House. It’s an RV where people can test and use drugs in the presence of a peer, and naloxone kits are also readily available.
Sunshine House has been operating the Mobile Overdose Prevention Site since last fall and it has seen at least 4,500 visits in the past four months, according to data provided by the organization.
“We were pretty sideswiped by the announcement of this bill because we had no consultation or no conversations with the province in regards to the operations of the mobile overdose prevention site,” said Levi Foy, executive director of Sunshine House.
“They haven’t actually expressed any other interest in anything to do with this project since July of last year.
“So to see a bill like this introduced without any kind of community consultation was pretty, pretty disheartening and discouraging.”
Premier Heather Stefanson said the provinces’ top priority is people’s safety.
“That’s what this legislation does, our process is such that certainly there’s an opportunity for those individuals to come forward and speak at the committee stage of the bill as well.”
“The federal government has made the decision to allow for those supervised consumption sites.
“In Manitoba, we want to make sure that we put various regulations in place to ensure people’s safety.”
However, Foy says the provincial bill just adds hoops to jump through.
“The problem isn’t regulation and oversight, the problem is people in my family and people in my community are dying, and they have been unresponsive to this.”
“If the actual goal is community care and community safety, we can have that conversation, and we’d be happy to have that conversation.”
Foy said he is concerned the wording of the bill isn’t specific enough around the roles of inspectors, who can obtain warrants and search the facilities.
In October, at least 80 organizations penned an open letter urging the province to work with them to create a plan informed by their years of experience in the field of addictions and harm reduction.
“Not one of those organizations received a response and not one of those organizations was consulted in the formation of this bill,” said Thomas Linner, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.
“The government needs to rescind Bill 33 right now, sit down with the community and figure out what works.”
Meanwhile, Stefanson said she’s confident the new bill will help people affected by addiction.
“We’re listening to Manitobans every day and if they have ideas on how we can make things better, and how we can make things safer, then we’re open to hearing that.”
Global News reached out to Minister Morley-Lecomte, who introduced the bill, for an interview but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
– with files from Global’s Iris Dyck