Temporary supervised consumption site to open in Winnipeg

Manitoba is opening its first supervised consumption site in Winnipeg. CTV's Jon Hendricks has more.

A temporary supervised consumption site in Winnipeg will be opening next month, Manitoba’s premier confirmed Thursday.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew and Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Bernadette Smith said a temporary trailer will be opening as an overdose prevention site outside of Henry Avenue, where a permanent site has been proposed.

“Aboriginal Health and Wellness will be running the site, they’re in the hiring phase right now, so as soon as they’re got their staff hired up and trained, then the site will be open,” Smith said.

A spokesperson for the province said the province is opening an urgent public health needs site, which can be done provincially without federal approval.

“Functionally, an urgent public health needs site and a supervised consumption site are very similar, just the supervised consumption site is permanent,” a spokesperson told CTV News in a statement.

CTV News asked the province for an update on the status of the supervised consumption site application with the federal government, but have not yet received one.

Smith said the goal is to connect people with supports and services aimed at helping them manage and beat addiction.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said dialogue between the province and the city remains important to ensure safety around the area.

“There needs to be good coordination,” he said. “I know there has been a lot of good dialogue with our departments as well to make sure that they’re ready to handle any load that would come from that.”

Jeff Bereza, the critic for addictions and homelessness for the Manitoba Tories, said the announcement leaves more questions than answers about how it will operate.

“There is a shortage of nurses, there’s a shortage of mental health workers, so where are these workers coming from that are going to be working in this temporary site?” he said.

The Tories have endorsed the need for more drug and addiction recovery centres to open in the province to combat the issue of drug addiction, with Bereza saying other provinces, such as Alberta and Ontario, are moving away from supervised consumption sites.

“The more that we continue to help people put drugs in their arms all we’re doing is creating a vicious circle here,” he said. “We’re not giving anybody the opportunity for a way out.”