Judge grants injunction restoring 24-hour access at Red Deer overdose prevention site
Hours were cut in half earlier this month ahead of a planned full closure in spring
An Alberta judge has ordered the province to restore full-time operations at Red Deer's only overdose prevention site, less than two weeks after its hours were cut in half.
Red Deer Court of King's Bench Justice Gillian Marriott granted an interim injunction Monday that reverses the reduction of OPS hours ahead of the site's planned closure at the end of March.
A lawyer for Recovery Alberta, the branch of Alberta's health system responsible for mental health and addictions services, said during the court hearing that it will likely take about three days to restore 24-hour service.
Earlier this month, the site moved from 24/7 service to being open only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
At the same time, teams of paramedics and nurses began overnight patrols around the OPS to respond to potential overdoses.
Monday's court decision comes after lawyer Avnish Nanda filed a lawsuit on behalf of a man with opioid use disorder named Aaron Brown.
Brown argues that closing the OPS is a violation of his Charter rights, as well as the rights of other site users. He argues they will be left at an increased risk of a fatal opioid poisoning without a designated space to use illicit drugs under medical supervision and immediate help to reverse an overdose.
"[The decision] is a real recognition that what the government is trying to do here could imperil my client's life and the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of other vulnerable central Albertans," Nanda said in an interview.
Marriott's decision comes after Nanda, and Nathaniel Gartke, a lawyer representing the Alberta government, argued their cases last Friday.
Gartke told the court that the province wasn't behind the specific decision to reduce the Red Deer OPS hours. He said the minister simply gave direction to Recovery Alberta to "gradually transition" the OPS out, and the health authority made the call about how to do that.
Gartke argued that restoring OPS hours now will mean removing other recovery-oriented services that have started rolling out in its place, which could cause harm.
Ultimately, Marriott found that the legal criteria for granting an interim injunction were met.
"I do not accept the respondent can deny responsibility for a decision they have control of," she said Monday.
"The respondent states that alternate services are available, and that Alberta funds several programs designed to prevent the harms the applicant alleges. However, in my review of the material, there's no equivalent of the OPS provided by the government."
Injunction ends 'staggered approach' to closing OPS
When the Alberta government announced in September that the Red Deer OPS would shut down by April 1, there was no mention of cutting back the hours before that date. After Nanda filed the lawsuit in mid-November, an affidavit in response filed by the provincial government described how OPS hours would be cut in January.
Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams said in December that the site would see a "staggered approach" of reduced hours as other supports, such as mobile overdose response teams and a new addiction medicine clinic, started up.
Nanda said the case has been a hard-fought effort for his client.
"It's a real credit to him for pushing this, because these are not easy cases, so I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from Mr. Brown's actions," he said.
"It's not easy for someone in Mr. Brown's circumstances to do this. So, much respect and acknowledgement to him and for stepping up here."
Williams said in a statement Monday that the province would be appealing the decision and was looking forward to the court "fully considering" the merits of the case.
"Courts should be reluctant to impose public policy and programming decisions on elected governments," wrote Williams.
"Decisions relating to how taxpayer dollars should or should not be spent are supposed to be left in the hands of leaders who were elected with a democratic mandate and accountability to those they govern."
The interim injunction is in place until another court hearing in mid-March where Nanda will seek an injunction to stop the OPS from being shut down.
The Alberta government announced in September that it would shutter the site and replace it with other recovery services after a request from Red Deer city council. Williams said Monday the decision "will delay Red Deer's access to these services as a part of our Alberta recovery model."
Recovery Alberta told CBC News it expects the OPS will return to 24-hour service starting Thursday evening, though there still may be periodic closures due to staff shortages.
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