Calgary mayor wants more details on alternative to supervised consumption site

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek is calling for more details on the province's plan to offer an alternative to the city's supervised consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre.

In a letter Wednesday to Dan Williams, Alberta's minister for mental health and addictions, Gondek reiterated that the city already agreed with the province in 2021 that the current model where Calgary's only supervised consumption site is at the Chumir wasn't working. She added the city has been waiting since 2022 for the province to offer additional or alternative solutions.

Gondek said she wants to know what the province's alternative treatment plan to replace the Chumir would be before the Chumir site closes.

"We cannot close down a supervised consumption site without an alternative plan because anyone seeking those supports will immediately be kicked out onto the street or left in their own home. That doesn't create a safe environment," Gondek said to media on Wednesday. 

"What I need from the province is a plan on what they're going to do if it's not going to be the existing site."

Gondek added she agreed with the province that more treatment beds are needed, and she was interested in the idea to potentially combine addictions treatment with supervised consumption sites, as well as with finding other ways to improve access to mental health and addictions supports.

She also said the city has no role in decision-making over provincial health services like the supervised consumption site, and is confused about the call from the province to weigh in.

"We have been clear. We agree with you the site is not working as intended. So what's your new plan?" Gondek said.

Williams responded with a letter of his own to Gondek on Wednesday, saying he's obligated to ask council for its position on removing the Chumir's site because of council's responsibility to its residents.

He added that the province is looking for approval from Calgary's council to lead an addiction recovery plan that would involve transitioning services away from the Chumir's site.

"Given the impact on Calgarians, it is important for the entire city council, not just the mayor, to weigh in via a vote on whether council would like to see the Sheldon Chumir site closed and transitioned into recovery-oriented addiction care," Williams wrote.

In 2021, the province said it would close Calgary's site and replace it with two new sites. But the site has yet to shut down.

Williams added he isn't willing to seriously consider any proposal for new consumption sites beyond the Chumir, but if council supports this option, it must be accompanied by a city-led proposal containing a list of preferred locations to choose from.

At an executive committee meeting on Wednesday, Coun. Dan McLean brought forward a motion asking council to support a call to the province to close the Chumir's site. The committee voted 9-1 to bring the motion to council, which will debate whether to support the call later this month.

"We can look at other alternatives for sure. But first things first, we're all aligned to get it shut down. Let's move toward that sooner than later," said McLean, who represents Ward 13.

Discussion around closing the Chumir follows news last month that the province planned to shut down Red Deer's only overdose prevention site next year. Red Deer's site has operated since 2018, but the province announced that once other supports are up and running, the current site is expected to stop operating by spring 2025. 

Coun. Courtney Walcott said the issue deserves a debate by council, and argued it allows an opportunity for council to lay out baseline requirements it will need from the province to support a decision to shut down the Chumir site. He argued the site in the Beltline used to be more effective, but the province has failed to adapt to how people use drugs, including not introducing inhalation rooms.

The Ward 8 councillor said he hears a balance of feedback from constituents, with some worried about people struggling with addiction and others worried about the location of the Chumir site.

"I have a whole community unified on one simple reality: they want people to live, they want this system to work and they know it doesn't work right now," Walcott said.