'This is alarming': littered needles causing problems in Manitoba municipalities

Two Manitoba municipal leaders want action from the province to deal with they describe as an alarming number of needles turning up in rural communities.

Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson said needles are littering his community, as well as The Pas. He said over the past year, more than 500,000 needles have been handed out in harm reduction programs in his community of around 5,000 people. 

He described this as alarming.

“We need to see change if this program of needle distribution continues, which, in my opinion, it should not,” Jacobson said.

He said a needle exchange program is needed, along with the distribution of retractable needles.

“The biggest thing is a plan of rehabilitation for those individuals, which we just recently learned that there is no plan for rehabilitation,” Jacobson said. “This is alarming, and we need to call for action.”

This was one of the problems discussed at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) fall convention in Winnipeg.

The AMM is in the process of discussing a resolution, co-sponsored by Jacobson and the mayor of The Pas. If passed, the AMM would lobby the province to help with needle disposal and study the success rate of the current harm reduction approach.

Bernadette Smith, Manitoba’s Minister of Housing, Addictions, and Homelessness, said the government is working to address the issue of needle clean up.

“We know that there are children, there’s people in and around the community, and we all want to be in safe, clean communities,” Smith said, adding she has sent a directive to the health regions on Friday.

The letter, obtained by CTV News, said the province will provide $30,000 to four health regions to help create disposal plans, including adding disposal containers in public spaces and creating teams to clean up discarded needles.

In Swan River, Smith said a hotline has been created for people to call and report needles being found. She said healthcare workers are also doing regular cleanups.

She added needle distribution is part of a harm reduction approach and added the government wants to improve access to addiction treatment, including the use of supervised consumption sites.

The AMM will be voting on the resolution Tuesday afternoon. If voted and passed, the AMM will send it to the relevant ministers along with a request for a formal response.