Advocates say the Manitoba government’s plan to detain people intoxicated with long-lasting drugs like methamphetamine at a Winnipeg detox facility for up to 72 hours could put marginalized people at greater risk.
A large group of more than 100 protesters gathered outside the Manitoba Legislative Building in downtown Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon, calling on the government to reconsider Bill 48, which increased the limit of how long a highly-intoxicated person can be detained from 24 hours to 72 hours.
The bill passed through the Legislature earlier this month.
On Monday, the province offered media a tour of the 20-room detention facility at 190 Disraeli Fwy., which is set to open at the end of the month. Another 20 rooms are expected to be added at a later date.
Rally organizer Monica Ballantyne said the government made a “rushed decision” with little community consultation. She worries that people who use substances will experience withdrawal and die as a result.
“Being a person who’s had to sober up … been detained in cells where the person next to me didn’t make it through the night. For me, I just know it’s going to happen,” Ballantyne said.
She said the fear of being detained could also push individuals to hide and use drugs alone.
“You’re going to go hide, you’re going to do your substance, your tolerance is lower and they’re going to overdose alone,” Ballantyne said.
“Had I been thrown in that detainment centre, I think I would have just hid my addiction more,” she said.
Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said in an emailed statement to CBC News on Sunday the goal of the new detox centre is to “keep people safe during the most dangerous moments of intoxication and psychosis.”
First look at Winnipeg’s new detox centre
Smith said the facility will have “real supports” available to people staying there, with connections to further services when they leave the centre.
Advocates at the rally on Sunday questioned whether there would be adequate health and addictions supports. They also raised concerns about whether the facility would have culturally-appropriate care for Indigenous community members.
On Monday, health officials said the detention facility will have on-site paramedics and more health supervision than the existing 24-hour hold facility run by the Main Street Project. The new 72-hour centre will also be run by the non-profit group.
People will need to be cleared by a hospital before going to the detox site, health officials said.
Joseph Fourre, founder of the Singing Red Bear Foundation, said seeing images and videos of the facility’s steel doors and white walls earlier this week broke his heart.
“I’ve been in the institutions, I’ve been in jails and this was a jail,” Fourre said.
“There was really nothing in that space that would be conducive to me wanting to seek out treatment for recovery,” he said.
Fourre said the province’s approach is “not a humane way of trying to deal with anybody that has a drug issue.” Instead, he would like to see a strategy that reduces treatment centre wait times and increases access to addiction care for people who choose to get sober.
But he fears people who go through the Disraeli site will “come out worse than they went in.”
In her statement, Smith said the centre is about “preventing harm, protecting the public, and giving people a pathway to care when they are at their most vulnerable.”
But Ballantyne questions whether this approach will actually keep community members safe.
“Taking 20 to 40 people off the streets, you’re not going to see a difference in safety for the community. And you’re definitely not going to see a sense of safety and recovery for the ones who are being detained,” she said.
