Manitoba’s new NDP government has demonstrated in writing that it needs to identify a supervised intake into downtown Winnipeg.
In a ministerial mandate dated Oct. 19 and made public on Tuesday, Prime Minister Wab Kinew called on his addiction minister, Bernadette Smith, to work with other ministers on what Kinew described as one of the government’s most sensible priorities.
“I’m very excited,” said Arlene Last-Kolb of Moms Stop the Harm. “They stick to what they said. It’s very different from what I’m used to. “
While first responders provide spaces to prevent overdoses, Manitoba is the only province west of the Maritimes without a supervised intake site.
Last-Kolb, whose son Jessie died of a fentanyl overdose in 2014, said other people deserve access to a drug source.
“I would like to see this intake site become permanent in a hospital setting, along with any treatment and harm relief,” Last-Kolb said.
The letter does not provide major points on how the government plans to identify or where it will be located.
The NDP has already indicated that it is in favor of the opening of such a center.
Smith said earlier this month that he could provide a timeline.
The minister said Manitoba recorded 400 drug-related deaths in 2022 and doesn’t need those numbers to increase.
According to data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Manitoba recorded 418 suspicious drug-related deaths last year. Figures available for this year show that another 216 people died from a suspected drug-related death between January and June 2023, of which 44 were suspected. deaths recorded in May alone.
Smith spoke about Sunshine House, as well as homeless relief company Main Street Project, as teams that Manitoba’s new government plans to work with on a supervised intake site.
Sunshine House operates a cellular overdose prevention system five days a week from an RV parked at the corner of Main Street and Logan Avenue.
Provides support to add naloxone overdose management and referrals to social, fitness, and emergency services.
It also demonstrates how to administer fentanyl tests and provides cumulative data from network members on the supply of poisonous drugs, although it is not a supervised intake matrix.
“It’s peer-led and controlled and it’s done from a caravan,” said Davey Cole, the program’s coordinator. “We don’t have the resources that an official supervised intake would have. That’s why we’re an overdose prevention team. “
Cole said much of the groundwork has been laid down to identify a supervised intake site and that it’s encouraging to see it discussed in an official government letter.
“I’m excited to see this start sooner rather than later,” Cole said. “Almost every day on the site, other people ask when we’re going to stop by to spend 24 hours a day there or when we’re going to stop by to have a construction or when it’s about to happen.
“Every day we say other people are getting ready. “
Cole said establishing and operating a supervised intake would require funding, and experts will want to be consulted on how to manage it well with care and compassion.
“Let’s go,” Cole said.
In the year since the launch of the mobile, there have been 23 overdoses, which led to 3 hospitalizations.
No one at the site was killed, Cole said.
“There is evidence that it saves lives,” they said. I think that deserves to be enough for other people to do it. “
Last-Kolb knows this probably won’t happen overnight. You’d like a site that’s run with dignity, treats others well, and is welcoming to all.
“I’m thankful because things are going to be different,” Last-Kolb said. “It’s going to take a little while. “
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