Ottawa tabs funds for grassroots addictions programs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/07/2021 (1156 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More federal funding aimed at tackling Canada’s opioid crisis and making substance use safer is being doled out to community programs across the country.

Grassroots groups can apply to access the $116-million fund through Health Canada’s substance use and addictions program. It is accepting proposals from community programs that work with people who use drugs until Sept. 24.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu made the announcement Thursday, during a visit to Winnipeg. She spoke at the Memorial Garden on Waterfront Drive, a space dedicated in memory of drug-overdose victims, saying she met there Wednesday with local families who’ve lost loved ones to overdoses.

Overdose deaths have been on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hajdu said, noting it’s not only opioids Canadians wrestle with, but alcohol and stimulants such as methamphetamine, as well.

“These are our families that are struggling. This is my family that’s struggling, this is maybe your family that’s struggling, and that’s why this announcement today is so important,” Hajdu said.

Members of her family have dealt with “problematic” substance use, she said.

The funding was previously announced in this year’s federal budget. Health Canada’s program currently funds 196 community programs, including ones at Klinic Community Health in Winnipeg and the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.

During the announcement Thursday, Nicole Chammartin, executive director of Klinic, said a mobile program to help people detox at home or in a short-term bed was recently expanded to include trauma counselling, and referrals have been increasing daily.

“For the first time, we’ve had wait lists, which is really, for a young program, not something we want to see, and so new funds is something that would really help us be able to address that,” she said.

Veda Koncan of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network said the organization used previous federal dollars to supply bubble pipes to meth users in Winnipeg, Selkirk and Pine Falls in order to cut down on riskier drug injections and avoid issues such as blood-borne infections.

“We are seeing huge demand for this project in all areas of Manitoba where we have sites,” she said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay