'Take our time': Kinew says decision not made yet on supervised consumption site location

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the province is taking its time to find a location for a supervised consumption site in Winnipeg.

The premier made the comments during a year-end interview with CTV News Winnipeg when asked about one of his party’s campaign promises to establish the site in Winnipeg’s downtown.

The premier said no decision has been made yet.

“You don't want it near a school. You don't want it in your other community sites where you got young people or elders, so there's a lot of consideration that needs to go into that,” he said. “So on this, we're going to take our time, just like with balancing the budget and getting that financial situation right.”

The idea of a supervised consumption site has been floated in recent years as a way to help deal with a growing drug overdose crisis in Manitoba. In October, Bernadette Smith, the minister of housing, addictions and homelessness, said one would be built.

The previous Progressive Conservative government was against the supervised consumption site, preferring a model focused on treatment and recovery.

Kinew said his government would be speaking with community organizations and people working and living downtown for feedback.

“We're also talking to B.C., we're talking to other jurisdictions to learn from their experiences, and hopefully avoid repeating some of the same challenges that they've seen,” he said.

Kinew added that a supervised consumption site is only a small portion of his government’s plan to address a larger crisis.

“The overall goal is to deal with the crisis we see in bus shacks and encampments, people on Main Street, when you're driving by who are struggling with addictions; this is what we want to improve here in the province,” he said. “So along with a comprehensive strategy on addictions, we need to take steps on housing, we need to take steps on ensuring that when a street patrol or law enforcement comes across somebody who's in crisis that there's the appropriate place to take them.”

You can watch the first part of Kinew’s interview here. Part two will air during the 6 p.m. newscast on Dec. 28.

-With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele