Community Indigenous drug-related service groups in Western Canada will receive $20 million from Ottawa

Dozens of community and Indigenous groups in British Columbia and the Prairies will share $20 million in federal funding to boost the mental health and drug awareness, treatment and rehabilitation services they provide.

The money will be distributed among 42 local drug-related programs in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett announced Thursday.

The pastor was in Squamish, BC, where she visited two addiction treatment centers, including one for youth.

“The announcement and the kind of investments we’re making is really to be able to invest directly into the community and then prove the concept of what works and what doesn’t work,” Bennett told a news conference.

The money will flow through Ottawa’s Substance Use and Addictions Program, with Alberta receiving more than $3.9 million, BC $11.2 million, Manitoba more than $3.2 million and Saskatchewan approximately $1.9 million.

Bennett said local organizations that have the trust and understanding of residents are often best suited to provide addiction and mental health services.

Addiction is a nationwide problem, with many families experiencing death, trauma and pain associated with substance use disorders, Bennett said.

She said more than 2,300 people in BC died from poisoned drugs last year, according to the BC Coroners Services and that the crisis is spreading nationwide.

“According to the most recent national data, there were 20 opioid poisoning deaths every day in Canada in 2022,” the minister said.

In BC, advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm will receive federal dollars to host in-person and online support workshops for people whose family members struggle with substance use problems and those who have lost loved ones to drug poisoning.

Alberta’s Fort McMurray 468 First Nation is one of 42 groups receiving funding to develop a community-led Indigenous treatment program.

In Manitoba, the funding is intended to help improve patient access to addiction medicine at Brandon walk-in clinics, while the same rapid services will be provided by mobile units serving Swan River, Russell and Virden.

In Saskatchewan, a chronic pain complex service in Regina receives funding to support people at risk of using opioids or experiencing opioid dependence.

“It’s about understanding the psychological pain of residential school or child abuse or the physical pain of falling off a roof or
been in a car accident,” Bennett said.

“It’s about people needing support, not judgment.”

Bennett said she is concerned about recent political criticism of BC’s pilot drug decriminalization program, which allows people to legally possess small amounts of hard drugs for personal use with the goal of reducing stigma and overdose deaths.

The pilot started on January 31 and will run for three years.

“I am very concerned that the politicization of this is getting in the way of helping people,” the minister said.

“It’s about keeping people alive long enough to see hope. There is absolutely no recovery for people who are dead.”