Red Deer's overdose prevention site run by Turning Point. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

mayor discontent; gov't refuses to explain timing

Red Deer councillor apologizes for public conversation about overdose prevention site

Feb 8, 2023 | 3:24 PM

A Red Deer city councillor has apologized following an unfortunate situation linked to an announcement this past week about Red Deer’s overdose prevention site.

Last Friday, the province announced it was overseeing a transition of the overdose prevention site from standalone to mobile; meantime, it would transfer from being operated by Turning Point to Alberta Health Services.

RELATED: Red Deer’s overdose prevention site going mobile; AHS taking over from Turning Point

Rumours swirled three days earlier that a Red Deer city councillor was overheard at a local coffee shop talking about said transition before it had been announced.

Mayor Ken Johnston addressed the situation in a release on Feb. 3, stating the following:

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“I also want to extend a formal apology to Turning Point and the service providers in our community who learned about the transition after overhearing one of our city council members talking with a provincial colleague about it in the community. We know this is unacceptable, we apologize.”

Johnston also described Turning Point staff as, “people who’ve served our community to the finest extent,” specifically since the overdose prevention site opened in Oct. 2018, but also over its 35 years in the community.

rdnewsNOW asked Johnston that day if he could identify the councillor, but he said he was still gathering information.

Now, first-term Councillor Kraymer Barnstable is owning up to it and apologizing.

(Facebook)

rdnewsNOW verified with Barnstable that he in fact made the above post.

In the councillor’s second paragraph, he notes that the situation he found himself involved in, “led to the announcement by the Province on Friday.”

We asked the province to clarify if the Barnstable situation led to the announcement happening sooner.

Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction Senior Press Secretary Colin Aitchison says the ministry has no comment.

Mayor Johnston says having the opportunity to formally give a recommendation, that is to say via a resolution of council, is customary.

“We’ve had several conversations with the province about the OPS,” says Johnston. “Normally the province would signal to us their intent to change service delivery or the operator, and normally from a relational perspective, the province would reach out to inform us, and council would get to take a formal position in terms of saying yay or nay. But we did not get that.”

rdnewsNOW asked Johnston if during any of the conversations with the province, the City ever thought the outcome would include taking Turning Point off the job.

“No. I can say no on that,” he says.

“[Again], normally they’d sit down with us, say ‘Here’s what we think and what does your body recommend?’ That’s the missing piece for us.”

Again, the province turned down our request for an explanation on that specific issue.

In a statement provided after our original story, the Alberta NDP’s Lori Sigurdson, Critic for Mental Health and Addictions, says, “The UCP’s decision to move services from a reputable non-profit provider into AHS will only put more strain on overstretched frontline healthcare workers and increase wait times in the hospital. If AHS has nursing staff available, they should be immediately employed in the Red Deer Regional Hospital or any of the 11 rural hospitals in central Alberta which are partially closed due to severe staffing shortages caused by the UCP.”

Turning Point also reacted to Barnstable’s apology Wednesday, at our request, stating, “We appreciate Councillor Barnstable’s apology and will continue to work closely with Red Deer city council and Alberta Health Services to prioritize the continued safety and wellbeing of our clients, staff and community.”

Turning Point said in a statement last Friday that 60 people who staff the overdose prevention site are facing unemployment due to the province’s decision.