Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann makes a policy announcement in Calgary, Alta., Monday, April 27, 2015. David Swann, a former medical officer of health in Medicine Hat and recently retired Calgary MLA, says he is “disturbed” by Kenney’s comments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Premier Jason Kenney says some supervised consumption sites may be closed or relocated but a report from a government appointed review panel is yet to be made public.
The associate minister for mental health and addictions says no decisions made been made.
“Minister Luan has received the report from the expert panel, and we are now reviewing the report thoroughly before any decisions are made,” said Kassandra Kitz, press secretary for the associate ministry of mental health and addiction.
Kenney’s comments to media on Tuesday included concerns about the “negative impact on people and on communities as a result of at least some of the drug injection sites.”
“They’re now more than injections … they’re just illegal drug sites,” he said. “I think we see pretty much everywhere a marked increase in crime in the area of those sites and social disorder and negative human consequences.”
David Swann, a former medical officer of health in Medicine Hat and recently retired Calgary MLA, says he is “disturbed” by Kenney’s comments.
Swann says there is “very strong evidence” that supervised consumption sites “save lives.”
“We have to move upstream with these folks and get them into treatment. The only way … is to provide life-saving harm reduction approaches in a supervised consumption site,” said Swann.
Last summer Luan met with stakeholders in Medicine Hat and the review panel heard from the community in September.
The report was to be submitted to the government by Dec. 31 after assessing the social and economic impact of sites on the community and business including crime statistics, social order, property values and business. It did not consider harm reduction, establishing new sites, provincial funding or housing.
There are eight sites operating in the province: Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie and Lethbridge. There are applications in progress for Medicine Hat and Calgary that were put on hold pending the review.
Luan’s office would not provide additional details on Wednesday. He has previously said his focus would be for a long-term solution, a comprehensive approach with services on a number of levels.
There have been some initiatives announced for other areas of the province but nothing yet for Medicine Hat.
Local resident Kym Porter, whose son passed away as a result of an accidental overdose, has given a great deal of thought to the supports that the community needs in order to save lives if there will be no site.
Porter wants to see decriminalization of drug use and a safer supply of drugs. She says supports would need to include safe housing, income assistance, trauma informed care, additional detoxification beds, more therapy of a non-abstinence based model, less judgment, more empathy and more education on the factors that contribute to addiction.
Many of the existing sites are based in the core of cities. Swann says they need to reach beyond that radius. He says there is an experiment in Calgary with a virtual site where someone using drugs at home can call in before using. They then receive calls at intervals to ensure they are OK. If there is no response a paramedic is dispatched.
Swann believes there is a lot to be learned from Portugal, which introduced decriminalization and other initiatives about 20 years ago.
“Decriminalizing drugs is part of it but then providing wraparound services,” said Swann. “The HIV infection rate has gone down, the addiction rate has gone down … There are all kinds of benefits to treating this as a mental illness not as a moral failure or a legal policing issue.”
The provincial government can withhold funding for a site but it is Health Canada that grants an exemption permit for one to operate.
“We are just a funder,” said Luan in June last year while in Medicine Hat.
A site requires an exemption under section 56.1 of the Act that is issued by Health Canada after an application process.
HIV Community Link, which received provincial government funding to establish a site in Medicine Hat, submitted an application to Health Canada on June 25, 2018. Three of the five stages are shown as complete on Health Canada’s website.
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tanamarie
4 years ago
In their effort to appear non-dictatorial, the UCP government formed Panels on various topics – paid UCP members who had lost their election bids, and other cronies, to travel around and pretend to listen to Albertans. It is clear to anyone paying the slightest attention that these Panels have a foregone conclusion. Safe injection sites is the latest casualty. As the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addiction let slip, some of these sites will be closed. Kenney made no apologies for his extremely derogatory opinion of addicts. In the current economic climate and cutbacks in Alberta – be rich or die – it seems obvious where those unfortunate enough to have addiction or mental health issues are going to fall on the spectrum of human value or capital. Despite all the evidence showing the efficacy of safe injection sites – they save lives – the Panel was instructed not to consider Harm Reduction in their evaluations. Just as the McKinnon Panel – which brought us the current economic recession – was instructed not to factor Revenue in their budget discussions. Kenney’s Panels are hog-tied before they start – and their findings are pre-determined. Of course there are going to be some folks who believe that this is wrong – that the UCP are undertaking due diligence by having their Panels criss-cross Alberta. But when the Minister lets slip that, in fact, “yes, they have the report but they don’t need to look at it because they already know what it says” if we had an Ethics Commissioner – there would be someone to complain to. For those of you who are not up in arms about this because it hasn’t affected you personally – consider this: this government is going to cut jobs, programs, services, and so on and something is going to affect you personally. If you wait until then to stand up to these bullies – as the old saying goes – by the time it gets to you, there will be nobody left to stand up.
In their effort to appear non-dictatorial, the UCP government formed Panels on various topics – paid UCP members who had lost their election bids, and other cronies, to travel around and pretend to listen to Albertans. It is clear to anyone paying the slightest attention that these Panels have a foregone conclusion. Safe injection sites is the latest casualty. As the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addiction let slip, some of these sites will be closed. Kenney made no apologies for his extremely derogatory opinion of addicts. In the current economic climate and cutbacks in Alberta – be rich or die – it seems obvious where those unfortunate enough to have addiction or mental health issues are going to fall on the spectrum of human value or capital. Despite all the evidence showing the efficacy of safe injection sites – they save lives – the Panel was instructed not to consider Harm Reduction in their evaluations. Just as the McKinnon Panel – which brought us the current economic recession – was instructed not to factor Revenue in their budget discussions. Kenney’s Panels are hog-tied before they start – and their findings are pre-determined. Of course there are going to be some folks who believe that this is wrong – that the UCP are undertaking due diligence by having their Panels criss-cross Alberta. But when the Minister lets slip that, in fact, “yes, they have the report but they don’t need to look at it because they already know what it says” if we had an Ethics Commissioner – there would be someone to complain to. For those of you who are not up in arms about this because it hasn’t affected you personally – consider this: this government is going to cut jobs, programs, services, and so on and something is going to affect you personally. If you wait until then to stand up to these bullies – as the old saying goes – by the time it gets to you, there will be nobody left to stand up.