Seven members of parliament met with recovering meth addicts at Morberg House in St. Boniface Tuesday.
They make up the federal standing committee on health, which is going across Canada to study meth abuse and research what the government can do to better respond.
Manitoba Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson, started off speaking at the meeting. He is a former emergency room doctor.
The study group is made up of Liberal, Conservative and NDP MPs, who come from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
“Right now there is a big focus on the opioid crisis. We don’t meet the criteria for that,” said Marion Willis, who leads the organization, at the meeting.
Willis talked about best practices and how what works in one part of the country won’t necessarily work in Winnipeg.
She said people make assumptions about recovering meth addicts, which makes them unemployable.
“They are all employable,” said Willis.
Several clients at Morberg House told the MPs their stories about addiction, being incarcerated and wanting to be healthy.
One man said more long-term treatment centres are needed.
“The meth problem is bad in every neighbourhood,” he said.
Another man said quicker access to detox is needed.
Willis also talked about the need for a drug stabilization unit, the creation of a group of people who can respond to people with meth addictions quickly.
Willis said the drug stabilization unit would include 20 recovery beds and she envisions a facility that would be inclusive to women and people with different needs.
Clients told MPs it costs about $10 to $20 a day to stay high.
Willis said she would not support a safe injection site for meth.
“There is no safe way to use meth,” she said.
The committee is expected to complete a report in about a month. It will be presented to the House of Commons.
On Tuesday evening members of the committee walked with the Bear Clan through backlanes in the inner city. Wednesday, the MPs will visit with more community groups in Winnipeg before heading off to Calgary and Vancouver.
