Whitehorse NGO concerned about future of harm reduction with federal election around the corner

The head of a harm-reduction organization in Whitehorse is concerned about what impact the upcoming federal election — and a new government — could have on programs and support for people who use drugs. 

"We've really seen an increase in misinformation about substance use and harm reduction and the toxic drug crisis kind of across the country," Jill Aalhus, the executive director of Blood Ties Four Directions, said in an interview this month. 

"And in the Yukon, we've continued to have a lot of community support, but there is concern that our programs could be at risk."

Blood Ties operates a number of services in the city including the territory's only supervised consumption site, where people can consume illicit drugs in a controlled environment with staff on hand. 

Harm reduction advocates and front-line workers say sites like Blood Ties are critical for preventing or reversing potentially-fatal overdoses and putting people in touch with other resources like counselling or housing support. 

However, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has referred to supervised consumption sites as "drug dens," with the party, in its election platform, promising to ban them from within 500 metres of schools, parks and seniors homes while also imposing "strict new oversight rules to ensure they are pathways for treatment and recovery." 

Liberal leader Mark Carney, separately, has said the federal government is "undergoing a review of the effectiveness" of supervised consumption sites, while both the NDP and Green Party have previously explicitly pledged support for them. 

The Greens, in their election platform, promise to expand funding for supervised consumption sites and harm reduction services to ensure "nationwide access," including in rural areas and correctional facilities, while the Liberal and NDP platforms do not explicitly mention them.

Blood Ties' site, located on Sixth Avenue in downtown Whitehorse, opened in 2021 and has seen tens of thousands of visits since. Aalhus, who previously worked as Blood Ties' program manager, said it drastically changed the organization's work. 

"I remember living in Whitehorse and working at Blood Ties before we had a supervised consumption site and we had to respond to overdoses outside in the snow and in really difficult positions," Aalhus said. 

"And now we have this great facility… [But] anytime there is a change in government, we worry, will this essential work continue?"

Whitehorse resident Lauren Hill told CBC News that harm reduction was a key issue for her this election, and that any talk of closing supervised consumption sites, or making them harder to access, was a line-in-the-sand for her. 

"I am firmly opposed to this attack on life-saving healthcare and the blatant disregard for the lives of people who use drugs," Hill said. 

Aalhus said the toxic drug crisis has been held up as a "wedge issue," and that recent national conversations have pitted treatment and recovery options against measures like supervised consumption sites.