Winnipeg, MB – March 15, 2023: Today, the Manitoba Legislature introduced Bill 33, which targets organizations providing life-saving services to vulnerable communities for daring to provide these services. This political move discredits harm reduction services, undermines the community’s urgent call for supervised consumption services and threatens those experiencing addiction.
In a joint statement released by affected agencies and organizations, it reads:
“The community organizations and service providers who work with people who use substances have repeatedly invited partnership to develop standards and regulations around harm reduction and addictions services, legislated or otherwise, and encouraged the government to commit to supporting these strategies as part of the continuum of care. These invitations have been ignored and denied. Not one of the over eighty organizations who signed an open letter directly in regards to these services has seen a response to that plea for support, let alone been consulted in the drafting of this bill.”
The bill disregards the need for safe-consumption sites, and closes the door under the cover of regulation. The statement further explains:
“The need to support harm reduction services in Manitoba, and the continuum of care which includes supervised consumption and overdose prevention services, is urgent and immediate. We call on the provincial government to rescind this bill, sit down with community health centres, people who use drugs and service providers and get to work on supporting life-saving services.”
Community organizations and individuals who love people who use drugs are encouraged to sign up to speak against Bill 33 here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/committees/committee_registration.html
