Manitoba·NewThe safety plan for Winnipeg’s proposed supervised consumption site and its surrounding neighbourhood is multi-layered, with police being a visible presence but a last resort, a consultation meeting was told.’Police are the response of last resort’Darren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 3:13 PM EST | Last Updated: 18 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Manitoba is proposing a supervised drug consumption site at 366 Henry Ave., just north of downtown Winnipeg. (Google Street View)The safety plan for Winnipeg’s proposed supervised consumption site and its surrounding neighbourhood is multi-layered, with police being a visible presence but a last resort, a consultation meeting was told.”It’s about ensuring that people that are using are safe, as well as our community is safe. We want to make sure there’s no exploitation, no gang activity, no selling of drugs happening in and around, and that people aren’t hanging around the site,” Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said during a Zoom-based public meeting Thursday night about the proposed site at 366 Henry Ave.Designed through “a health-care lens,” the safety plan’s first layer is harm reduction to make sure people stay alive, she said. Wellness workers with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre will ensure people are aware of the facility, getting inside and receiving food and other supports. They will also be a visible presence in the community to dissuade criminal activity and keep the property clean, people were told.Another layer is the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, whose members will also be visible in the area, providing safe walks to the public and doing wellness checks on individuals they come across, providing mental health resources to those in need.Staff at the consumption site will have a direct line to DCSP if they need them. “They’ll be able to call and say, you know, I have someone that’s loitering. I need some support,” Smith said.”If they see someone in distress, DCSP is already responding to those types of calls. Often the police don’t even have to get involved. They’re trained to de-escalate, to intervene.”Matt Halchakar, DCSP director of operations, said members “would be in the area 24/7, mobile and on foot.”The third level is enforcement. The Winnipeg Police Service will respond to calls regarding criminal activity.”Selling or trafficking drugs in or around the site will not be tolerated. Neither will open drug use outside of the supervised consumption site. People will be arrested. They will be prosecuted to the full extent,” Smith said.”We will be enforcing the law and responding to calls related to drug dealing, gang activity, property crime and other crimes that are the responsibility of the law enforcement. I want to make that very clear.”But we have [these other] things in place so we don’t get to that point.”Bernadette Smith, shown in the CBC newsroom on Monday, says the ultimate goal of the consumption site is to get people inside, where they can get their substances tested, get connected to help and start a path to recovery. (Jaison Empson/CBC)The ultimate goal is to get people inside the facility, where they can get their substances tested and get connected to help, Smith said.”People are walking and living with trauma. This is to support them, build relationships,” Smith said. “Nobody wants to be addicted to drugs.”Some members of the public expressed concern during the Zoom call that the facility will attract trouble and make their community unsafe. They spoke about people passed out in parks, vandalism and theft.Smith said the intent of the site is to accomplish the polar opposite.”It’s happening in your community right now. I’ve heard from several of you already, you’re scared to go outside your house [because] there’s someone lying on the ground. You formed community patrols because of what’s happening in your community,” she said.”If it was in Tuxedo, then we would be in Tuxedo opening up a supervised consumption site. But that’s not where the data tells us it needs to be. The data tells us that it has to be in and around this area.”The site will move people inside, off the streets, out of the parks, away from the businesses and into a supportive place, Smith said.”We’re not going to police their way out of this,” she said.Winnipeg Police Service deputy chief Scot Halley said he fully agrees with the approach.”The intent is for all of us working together, communicating well together, to ensure that any safety issues that are occurring within the area are addressed by any number of partners right across that spectrum,” he said.”There’s a multitude of different partners here … helping us to ensure that police are the response of last resort. Criminalizing people who are addicted is not the answer, and we need to find a new path forward.”Although the province has purchased the building and the neighbourhood is the target one for the site, the Henry Avenue location is not a done deal, Smith said.”This is a proposed site, so if you have suggestions, we are open to those suggestions,” she said.“We hope that someday there won’t be a need for a supervised consumption site. But, reality — this is where we’re at. [There were] 570 deaths last year, 232 in six months this year. These are somebody’s loved ones, these are humans, these are Manitobans. And we have a duty as government to respond to that.”We want our communities back. We want to ensure that these toxic drugs are getting off the streets.”Another public consultation will take place Monday at the Chinese Cultural Centre, 180 King St, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Questions can also be emailed to scs@ahwc.ca.ABOUT THE AUTHORDarren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.
3-layer safety plan outlined for Winnipeg’s proposed drug consumption site
