Higgs says he won't approve any safe injection sites if re-elected
New Brunswick has one overdose-prevention site, located in Moncton
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said if re-elected, his government "will not approve any new supervised injection sites across the province."
His comments at a Saint John Chamber of Commerce event Monday comes three days after the Progressive Conservative government announced it's giving nearly $1.5 million to finance the expansion of a Christian-based addictions rehab centre outside Fredericton.
Higgs told the chamber that if re-elected, his government would "launch consultations with local governments and community members about existing supervised injection sites and what impact they are having in their communities."
New Brunswick has only one injection site, in Moncton. This location has health-care workers who can help if an overdose takes place. It also allows people access to mental health and addiction help if they decide to seek treatment.
Advocates have been calling for one to be opened in Saint John for years. Julie Dingwell, executive director of Avenue B Harm Reduction Inc., said supervised consumption sites prevent overdose deaths.
She said she's disappointed with the premier's words, but it won't stop her advocacy.
"It's about saving lives," she said. "What we need to do is to keep people alive because dead people can't recover."
New Brunswick Public Health previously said 2023 was a record-breaking year, with 72 people dying of an opioid overdose. The number is a 40 per cent increase from 2022.
Not a department of health initiative
Village of Hope is located in Upper Tracy, about 50 kilometres south of Fredericton. The 10-month rehab program includes "an introduction to Christianity and Christian living," says the Village of Hope website. The program includes daily devotion, church attendance and Bible class.
The Department of Health is not providing any funding to Village of Hope, a spokesperson said.
The $1.5 million is coming from the Regional Development Corporation, a provincial Crown corporation that leads economic development initiatives, the government's website said.
According to a provincial news release, the money will be going toward an expansion of the 350-acre property to include a women's dorm and a centre for visitors and families.
The Village of Hope program already has space for 20 men and eight women, said Shelley McLeod, spokesperson for Village of Hope. The expansion project will increase the women's spaces to 16.
Dingwell said she is happy to see funding for Village of Hope because faith helps some people recover, but she said it can't be at the expense of emergency intervention, such as safe injection sites to prevent overdoses.
Eric Weissman, an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said any kind of funding to addiction recovery efforts is welcome.
But the key is to keep the funding diverse and balanced, covering the spectrum from faith-based abstinence programs to supervised injections sites.
"I totally believe in different types of recovery, and as people make their way into recovery, safe injection sites are part of that," Weissman said in an interview
Weissman said he's "totally opposed" to the premier's words.
"Every single one of us who works in harm reduction and has been calling for more safe injection sites, we're not asking for them because it's a dream or something nice that we'd like to have," he said. "It's because it's something we need."
In his state of the province address in February, Higgs promised an additional 50 beds for treatment for adults.
The Vitalité Health Network has 18 beds at its Centre for Hope and Harmony in Campbellton, where it provides personalized residential services for a stay of 30 to 90 days. It also has six beds for withdrawal management.
The Horizon Health Network operates Ridgewood Addiction Services in Saint John, a residential recovery centre that can accommodate up to 16 people for 30 to 90 days. Also at Ridgwood, the Horizon Recovery Centre provides 14 transitional beds for people who need support services as they develop plans to return to the community.
The department of health also has a contract with Portage Atlantic for in-patient services.
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