Search for new supervised consumption site welcome news, Point Douglas resident says

Manitoba·NewA Point Douglas resident says she’s happy a supervised consumption site will no longer open at a proposed location in her neighbourhood, with the government saying it’s looking for an alternative spot.Government looking into sites at least 250 metres away from schools, daycares after community feedbackArturo Chang · CBC News · Posted: Sep 04, 2025 7:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 28 minutes agoPremier Wab Kinew announced Wednesday his government is no longer looking into placing the site at 200 Disraeli Fwy., in a building shared with winter the warmup shelter N’Dinawemak. (Gary Solilak/CBC)A Point Douglas resident says she’s happy a supervised consumption site will no longer open at a proposed location in her neighbourhood, with the government saying it’s looking for an alternative spot.Premier Wab Kinew announced Wednesday his government is no longer looking into placing the proposed site at 200 Disraeli Fwy., in a building shared with the winter warmup shelter N’Dinawemak.Kinew said the province will instead look into alternative places which are at least 250 metres from schools or child-care centres. The proposed Disraeli site drew stiff opposition from residents, who said their concerns included the fact the site is across from a school and near a daycare.Point Douglas resident Christine Kirouac said she’s pleased the government took input from the community. The process that led to proposing the location didn’t feel inclusive, she said.”It’s not hard to see the need [for the site] and also to recognize the impact … of addiction,” Kirouac said.”[But] it’s not just you’re either for it or against it — you’re either ‘not in my backyard’ or ‘yes, in my backyard.’ It’s far more than that.”Government won’t rush choice: ministerJeff Bereza, the deputy leader of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives, said Thursday the decision to look for a different site raises questions about why the Disraeli location was chosen in the first place.”Why was the location of a school across from a drug site a good idea last year, but not today?” he said.A supervised consumption site application with Health Canada from Nov. 21, 2024, was still in the review stage as of Thursday, with the federal government saying it was awaiting key information before a decision can be taken.Bernadette Smith, the NDP government’s minister for housing, addictions and homelessness, has previously said the consumption site will operate as an injection site, offering primary care and addictions treatment.She said this week the government will still offer health and social services at the site, but as for the location, the government won’t be “rushing it.””We want to make sure that we’re getting it right,” Smith said. “We’ve taken what we’ve heard from community and we’re instituting it into the plan.”Smith said the government is also taking into account residents’ feedback about factoring in access to primary care, addictions treatment and other wraparound supports.With files from Matt Humphrey