Dismissal of appeal to delay ID requirement at supervised consumption sites will prove harmful, advocates say

By KENDALL KING, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on February 1, 2022.

Starting today, anyone accessing supervised consumption sites within Alberta will be asked to provide their personal health number, following the provincial Court of Appeal’s Monday ruling which dismissed an emergency appeal requesting implementation of the policy be delayed.

The appeal was submitted by the Lethbridge Overdose Society and Moms Stop the Harm, a nationwide drug advocacy group which is currently suing the province over the policy’s constitutionality.

Originally, LOPS and MSTH had filed an injunction requesting the policy be delayed, however the injunction was dismissed on Jan. 10. On Jan. 14 the emergency appeal was submitted, then heard in court Jan. 27.

A 15-page ruling on the appeal was released Monday, which read: “The chambers judge concluded there was the prospect of irreparable harm to at least some potential users of the service… The nature of the harm is serious. That is not disputed. The extent of the harm is unclear on this record, and the public interest in providing other members of that same vulnerable population with additional care must also be considered in the overall balancing process. Given the uncertainty recognized by the chambers judge, it was reasonable for him to conclude that this is not a “clear case” where the balance of convenience justified an injunction before trial.”

“They sent us a written decision (which), in certain terms, said people will die as a result of this government action, but we don’t know how many people will die, and because we don’t know how many people will die … we’re not going to issue an injunction,” Avnish Nanda, lawyer for LOPS and MSTH, told the News. “From our perspective, even one person dying is too much.”

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis issued a statement Monday evening which read: “(Alberta’s government) views supervised consumption sites as a portal through which other more proactive services can be provided. As is standard practice for health-care services, moving forward, operators will be required to ask clients for their personal health number upon their first visit. No client will be refused services if they refuse to provide their PHN.”

Nanda disagreed with the minister’s statement.

“That’s what the government is saying publicly, but in court, the government said the decision of whether to continue to give services, based on how the regulation is drafted, is left to the service provider,” said Nanda. “Our argument was regardless of whether it’s voluntary or not, it’s still a barrier … This is a vulnerable, marginalized population and the knowledge there will be a request and this information is being stored and requested is enough of a barrier they won’t even show up.”

For advocates like Kym Porter, dismissal of the appeal signifies political indifference toward the lives of drug users.

“This is not a decision based on what is in the public’s best interest,” Porter said in a statement. “(The judges who ruled on this matter) are now accountable for the loss of life because of this decision.”

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