'It's chaos': Overdose prevention organizations highlight continued need for government funding

The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre. (Stefanie Davis / CTV News Regina)

Saskatchewan’s two overdose prevention sites are continuing their calls for funding from the provincial government as the number of people using them increases.

On Thursday, representatives from Regina’s Newo Yotina Friendship Centre and Saskatoon’s Prairie Harm Reduction visited the Saskatchewan Legislature to apply more pressure for their funding needs.

Emile Gariepy, the harm reduction paramedic manager at the Friendship Centre, said March was the site’s busiest month yet.

“We had seven overdoses total [in March] and I think 222 people that used the site that whole month,” Gariepy said. “We only have three seats and it’s tough. How many more would we have it we had eight seats? How many more would we have if we could stay open at night time?”

He said the increased use highlights the need for a location with more space, which can’t come without more funding.

“If all three seats are taken up, you’ve got to leave in 15 minutes after you’ve used because I need other people to come,” he explained. “If there’s somebody at the door and they’re like ‘hey can I come in there?’ [and I say] ‘sorry it’s full’ they’re gone, they’re in the back alley now. They don’t want to wait.”

He said sometimes people will then come to let him know that there’s been an overdose in the back alley.

“It’s chaos,” Gariepy said.

The Friendship Centre would also like to increase its hours of operation.

“I’ve had clients overdose from the hours between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. because we’re not open. I’ve had clients come in and tell me ‘so and so died at this time because it wasn’t open,’” he said.

Operating hours remain the biggest concern for Prairie Harm Reduction.

In 2021, Prairie Harm Reduction served 508 people.

“Our goal is to provide 24/7 care out of that site and at time time we’re not able to because of the lack of funding,” Kayla DeMong, the executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction, said.

In addition to assisting with overdoses, DeMong said some of their work focuses on H.I.V transmission as well. She said Saskatchewan has had the highest rates of H.I.V transmission in the country for over a decade.

“Each one of those transmissions costs $1.3 million to our healthcare system,” she said. “What we’re asking for is $1.3 million. So if you think about the number of people accessing that site and the number of transmissions that we’ve been able to prevent just with H.I.V alone, we have far covered the cost of operating that the province would have to pay us.”

She said their funding request has been denied by the province for three years in a row, but she added they’ve never gotten a clear reason why.

Premier Scott Moe said the province does contribute to harm reduction, just not “injection sites.”

He said the majority of overdoses happen outside of the overdose prevention facilities.

“We have not made the decision to put that funding into safe consumption sites,” Moe said on Thursday. “We have taken that funding and provided it into supports and tools that are available and getting those tools to the people in their communities.”

He said harm reduction funding has focused on a number of different initiatives, including Naloxone kit and drug testing strip distribution around Saskatchewan.

“We’re going to continue to take the tools that are available to the people, and in addition provide those tools in places like Prairie Harm Reduction, like the Regina Friendship Centre,” Moe said.

The Saskatchewan NDP said people will continue to struggle with mental health and addictions if the province does not invest.

“The general evidence is clear that preventing death by overdose with these safe consumption sites saves money and save lives,” NDP MLA Meara Conway said. “We basically don’t see deaths by overdose in safe consumption sites and so by not funding these services, we’re seeing the preventable loss of life.”

Statistics from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service show from Jan. 1 to March 31 of this year, there were seven confirmed and 114 suspected drug toxicity deaths.

In 2021, there were a combined 446 deaths throughout the entire year.

If 2022 continues at the same rate its going, it would pass last year’s total.

Prairie Harm Reduction and the Newo Yotina Friendship Centre hope to help lower those numbers, but can’t do more than they’re currently doing without increased funding.

“We’re just asking for any help at all to expand it, grow it, keep hours longer,” Gariepy said. “We’re just scraping by with everything we have.”