Listen to this article
Dear 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated using text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
Advocates say the Manitoba government’s plan to detain people intoxicated on long-term drugs like methamphetamine at a Winnipeg detox center 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 time limit a highly intoxicated person can be detained from 24 to 72 hours.
He bill approved by the Legislature earlier this month.
On Monday, the The province gave media a tour of the 20-room detention center. at 190 Disraeli Fwy., which will open at the end of the month. Another 20 rooms are expected to be added later.
Protest organizer Monica Ballantyne said the government made a “hasty decision” with little consultation with the community. He worries that people who use substances will experience withdrawal and die as a result.
“Being a person who had to sober up… was held in cells where the person next to me didn’t spend the night. For me, I just know this is going to happen,” Ballantyne said.
He said the fear of being arrested could also push people to hide and use drugs alone.
“You’ll hide, you’ll use your substance, your tolerance is lower, and they’ll overdose on their own,” Ballantyne said.
“If they had put me in that detention center, I think I would have hidden my addiction more,” he said.
Minister of Addictions and Homelessness Bernadette Smith said in a statement emailed to CBC News on Sunday that the goal of the new detox center is “to keep people safe during the most dangerous times of intoxication and psychosis.”
The Manitoba government gave media a tour Monday of its new 20-bed detox center for highly intoxicated people, located at 190 Disraeli Fwy., before opening the doors later this month.
Smith said the facility will have “real support” available to people staying there, with connections to other services when they leave the centre.
Advocates at Sunday’s rally questioned whether there would be adequate support for health and addictions. They also raised concerns about whether the center would provide culturally appropriate care for members of the Indigenous community.
On Monday, health officials said the detention center will have on-site paramedics and more health supervision than the current 24-hour detention center run by Main Street Project. The new 72-hour center will also be run by the nonprofit group.
People will need to be discharged from 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 institutions, I’ve been in prisons and this was a prison,” Fourre said.
“There was really nothing in that space to help me seek treatment to recover,” he said.
Fourre said the province’s approach “is not a humane way to try to deal with someone who has a drug problem.” Instead, he would like to see a strategy that reduces wait times at treatment centers and increases access to addiction care for people who choose to stay sober.
But he fears that people who pass through the Disraeli site “will leave worse than they entered.”
In his statement, Smith said the center aims to “prevent harm, protect the public and provide people with a path to care when they are at their most vulnerable.”
But Ballantyne questions whether this approach will actually keep community members safe.
“By taking 20 to 40 people off the streets, you’re not going to see a difference in the safety of the community. And you definitely aren’t going to see a sense of security and recovery for those who are detained,” he said.
