Premier Danielle Smith met with firefighters at Station No. 2 in Medicine Hat on Wednesday. Also pictured is local firefighter Terry Chaffer, a vice-president of the International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 263.--News photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Premier Danielle Smith says she is awaiting the results of providing provincial policing resources in major cities, but said Wednesday she sees the proposed system creating a “continuity of care” that could direct people addicted to drugs to treatment programs.
That is already the focus of a one-year provincial pilot program in Medicine Hat involving police and mental health workers, but in Calgary and Edmonton, two dozen sheriff officers will begin work directly with local police starting next month for 15 weeks.
The premier and MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat told the News on Wednesday that using sheriffs to tackle mental health, homelessness and drug addiction issues would better join up with social services and recovery resources.
“We want to test it out and see how it works,” she said. “Part of what we like about having a sheriff (involved) is that connects us as the provincial government, with all the services that are going to be needed for health supports.
“One of the things we find is problematic is that strictly local municipal forces don’t necessarily know what to do with someone who is suffering an addiction issue. We’re creating, at the same time, recovery facilities and detox beds.
“We want to have a continuity of care, which is why we’re embedding sheriffs in Calgary and Edmonton, and we’ve talked about doing that in other communities.”
As a contestant for the United Conservative Party leadership last fall, Smith backed the creation of a provincial police force – often discussed as a replacement of the RCMP contract – but initially a focused effort to address addiction and crime that often accompanies it.
Last fall, a $450,000 provincial grant helped create a partnership between Medicine Hat police and the local Canadian Mental Health Association, and two “teams” to better respond to low-risk mental health calls.
Dubbed the “CARE” program, the one-year pilot is expected to deal with about 800 calls per year to 911 in Medicine Hat where police would initially respond. If deemed appropriate, police would hand off the file to mental health workers in order to free up officers and “decriminalize” mental health response.
Local police respond to about 35,000 calls in total each year.
This month the province announced it will deploy about two dozen provincial sheriffs in total to staff pilot projects in Calgary and Edmonton to free-up police resources in city centres.
That’s a response to highly visible drug use and disruption in those locations, but Smith also said those problems are not limited to major centres.
Smith was in town this week to meet with several non-profit groups in the city as well as attend a party fundraiser on Tuesday evening.
“I love coming to Brooks-Medicine Hat,” she said. “I always find that the little issues that we find here are the ones happening across the province. If with can solve them locally, we can solve them for a lot of people.”
On Wednesday she met with members of the local firefighters union at Medicine Hat Fire Station No. 2 to discuss its position that Workers Compensation Benefits should be expanded for firefighters who face a greater risk of acquiring certain types of cancer.
She returns to Edmonton for the opening of the spring legislative session, which begins Monday, with the provincial budget expected the next day.
