Ontario senator says Winnipeg detox facility could leave vulnerable people 'traumatized'

A member of the Canadian Senate with decades of experience advocating for the rights of marginalized and institutionalized persons says the Manitoba government has created more problems with its new 72-hour detox facility by essentially "building a jail" — a move that could leave vulnerable people "traumatized."

"I think what we see here is creating more problems," Sen. Kim Pate told CBC News outside the Winnipeg facility on Saturday afternoon. 

"We’re likely to see Charter challenges to the placement of people for health reasons in a jail, or jail setting. We’re likely to see more people get traumatized."

Pate, who says she works in the territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation that encompasses parts of Ontario and Quebec, was invited by Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan to check out the facility. Pate wanted to tour the facility but was not permitted inside.

The 20-room detention facility, located at 190 Disraeli Fwy., is slated to open by the end of the month. But when asked to confirm its opening Friday, Premier Wab Kinew said that "we might ask for your help in stretching the definition of the end of the month to early next week."

The facility’s opening follows the passing of Bill 48 — the Protective Detention and Care of Intoxicated Persons Act — inside the Manitoba Legislature on Nov. 5.

The bill extends how long someone who is highly intoxicated by methamphetamines or other long-lasting substances can be detained, raising the limit from 24 hours to up to 72 hours.

Pate believes that the provincial government’s intentions surrounding the facility are good, but that it's an "ill-conceived" response to tackling greater societal issues.

"The idea of providing more housing, more places for people to detox, particularly given the overdose and opioid crises, is a great objective. But it seems like [the province has] now created more problems by actually building — through the mental health system, or through the health system — building a jail," she said.

"Those units and those cells look like isolation cells because they are isolation cells."

Despite being unable to enter the building Saturday, Pate has heard from community members who believe something dangerous could happen because the proper supports are not in place for those with addictions.

"Everybody I've talked to is very fearful that we will see someone seriously harmed or dead before too long as a result of this kind of approach," she said.

Dr. Michael Krausz, the leadership chair for addictions research at the University of British Columbia, would like to have seen a pilot project take place before the facility's doors open to figure out how people under the influence of various substances would respond to the efforts of up to 72 hours of detention.

He believes holding an intoxicated person is only part of an intervention — not a solution. He questions what will be offered to people who will go through withdrawal, which takes hours — not days— to set in.