Safe consumption site operators in Sask. oppose Pierre Poilievre's views, invite politicians to visit

Supervised consumption site directors in Saskatchewan say that federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to see how the sites operate and understand the people they help.

In July, Poilievre called on the federal government to shut down Montreal's first supervised drug-inhalation centre, calling it a "drug den," and vowed to close supervised injection sites near schools, playgrounds and "anywhere else that they endanger the public and take lives."

Poilievre said he disagrees with the use of the term "safe injection site."

Emile Gariepy, harm reduction manager and primary care paramedic at the overdose prevention site Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre in Regina, said he can see why people are concerned about safe consumption sites being opened in residential areas and near schools.

However, he said there are sometimes reasons for opening in those locations — such as if the area is crime-heavy where people who need the site are located. He also said he doesn't think it's dangerous for children in the neighbourhood because he does not see people, like his clients at the Friendship Centre, causing trouble around the neighbourhood. 

If someone is intoxicated, he said they're typically managed by the centre or by emergency services.

"Maybe opening up a safe-injection site should be a little bit of a distance away from a school, but also it widely depends on what that area is like," he said.

The sites are important to keep people alive until they are prepared for treatment, Gariepy said.

He invited politicians to visit the site, including Poilievre, who has said he would put government funding toward treatment and recovery rather than harm reduction strategies.

"Maybe that person isn't ready to get sober today, or tomorrow, but what about next week or the week after that and how do you know they're going to be alive or not?" Gariepy said.

"We have a lot of success stories coming out of this building."

Gariepy said he's not aware of any fatal overdoses at supervised consumption sites in the country.

Saskatoon's Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) has sought government support for its supervised consumption site as a resource in response to the city's rising overdose numbers, but the site and its drop-in centre are not provincially or federally funded.

The site provides people a place to use their substances with staff on-site to test drugs, provide clean equipment to reduce disease rates, respond to overdoses and provide referrals for addiction recovery.