Point Douglas Residents Committee wants more consultation on proposed supervised consumption site
Manitoba government knows proposed location of Winnipeg supervised consumption site but won't say where
A residents' group wants to make sure people who live in a core Winnipeg neighbourhood will have a voice on the location for a planned supervised consumption site, if the plan is to locate it in their area.
In a letter shared online and with media, the Point Douglas Residents Committee said it received an email on Oct. 26 from the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre regarding a planned consumption site — where people can use drugs with trained staff on hand to respond to accidental overdoses and other emergencies — to be located at an unspecified location within "the downtown Point Douglas area."
The wellness centre and provincial government are now in the process of making applications for the site with the federal government — and Tanya Blatz, a spokesperson for the Point Douglas Residents Committee who is also a resident and landlord in the neighbourhood, said the group hopes that includes consultations with a range of people in Point Douglas.
"In terms of the federal application process, I think having a consultative process that includes the community members and residents of Point Douglas would be what we are pushing for," Blatz said.
She said the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre wanted to connect with the residents' committee regarding any questions or concerns the board might have about a supervised consumption site.
CBC saw the text of the email sent to the group by the centre.
This past July, the Manitoba government earmarked $2.5 million to open a consumption site in partnership with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre. The government said at that point it was searching for a site.
Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith says the government has picked a potential location, which she said will be in downtown Winnipeg.
She wouldn't say if it's going to be in Point Douglas, saying the province is "not at a point to divulge that information."
"We want to make sure that space is safe and secure for those folks that are in and around, those that are going to access that centre," Smith told CBC in a Thursday interview.
The Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.
While in Opposition, the now governing NDP said it would support the opening of at least one supervised consumption site in Manitoba, and dedicated money to the project in its first budget earlier this year.
"We are following through with what we said we were going to do," Smith said.
"We are looking forward to Manitobans having access to a centre where they're going to be able to access treatment, primary health care, access to mental health services."
'Mixed voices' on proposed location
The province is now "continuing to work through our consultation process," Smith said, and the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre is working on the application to the federal government.
The province is following the federal government's process, which requires it to consult stakeholders within 500 metres of the proposed location, she said.
She confirmed the Point Douglas Residents Committee is one of the stakeholders.
However, the Point Douglas Residents Committee says it's concerned not all residents will have a say.
"The PDRC executive believes that excluding the larger community and limiting the consultation to a select few board members of a volunteer committee about such a sensitive issue that is potentially disruptive to our neighbourhood is neither transparent nor democratic," the residents' committee said in the letter it shared after the Oct. 26 email.
Blatz said the committee also held an information gathering session in a school gym on Nov. 14, to inform the community about the possibility of a planned supervised consumption site in the neighbourhood.
Health Canada's website states that an application for a supervised consumption site must include a report on community consultations, which can include open houses, online surveys, information meetings, flyers or door-to-door canvassing.
The report also needs to include a description of measures to address any concerns should be included.
Blatz said there are "mixed voices" about having a supervised consumption site in Point Douglas.
"Of course there's some people on the side of concern, seeing that there is several daycares and schools and churches and businesses in the area," she said.
"We want all those voices to be considered as the families and business owners and residents all have different opinions and need to be able to have their voice heard."
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