Red Deer Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By David Opinko / with files from The Canadian Press

Solutions Not Obvious

Appeal to stop ID requirements at Alberta’s SCSs dismissed

Jan 31, 2022 | 7:40 PM

EDMONTON – Alberta’s top court has dismissed an appeal from harm reduction advocates who wanted to stop a provincial policy that requires people who want to use a supervised consumption site to provide their health-card number to get inside.

The rule came into force today.

The Alberta Court of Appeal heard the emergency request on Friday after a judge denied an application earlier this month that would have immediately suspended the requirement.

The Appeal Court says in its decision that the chambers judge accepted that there is “an opioid epidemic in Alberta,” but added that the solutions are not obvious.

Moms Stop the Harm, one of the applicants, previously told LNN that some users of illicit drugs would be too worried about being targeted by the justice system if they have to show their personal health number. This, the group argues, would result in more people using drugs on the streets and dying as a result.

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The three Appeal Court judges wrote in their decision that the new rule is part of an overall strategy to respond to the opioid overdose epidemic within the broader framework of the healthcare system.

The decision also says that, while the judge was satisfied the advocacy groups met the burden of establishing that irreparable harm would occur to some users of illicit drugs, he found it is extremely challenging to estimate how many users might possibly be deterred by the requirement.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis issued the following statement on the Jan. 31 decision by Alberta’s Court of Appeal:

“Recently, activist organizations sued the government to prevent Alberta from becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement quality standards for supervised consumption services.

“On Jan. 10, Alberta’s government learned that an injunction application filed against the regulation was dismissed by the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. The organizations brought this matter forward for an urgent appeal through Alberta’s Court of Appeal; Alberta’s government supported the urgent appeal. On Jan. 31, Alberta’s government was notified that the appeal was also dismissed by the Appeal Court.

“The same groups that have long advocated that supervised consumption services should be part of a public health response to addiction are now arguing in court ‘that the mandate of supervised consumption sites is merely to provide a safe place to use drugs.’ Alberta’s government disagrees with these groups. We view supervised consumption sites as a portal through which other more proactive services can be provided. As is standard practice for health-care services, moving forward, operators will be required to ask clients for their Personal Health Number upon their first visit. No client will be refused services if they refuse to provide their Personal Health Number.

“Every Albertan with addiction who accesses the health-care system should have the opportunity to pursue recovery and improve their lives. These quality standards were introduced to ensure that clients are better connected to the health-care system, to improve the quality of services that are being offered to people with addiction, and to improve community safety in the areas surrounding supervised consumption sites.

“That is exactly what these quality standards will do and why they are essential to safe and orderly provision of high-quality supervised consumption services as part of a recovery-oriented system of care.

“These services must be provided in a manner that is fair to the community, assertive in dealing with the illness of addiction and compassionate to the person who is struggling. Most importantly, recovery must always be recognized as an achievable goal and clients should be assertively encouraged to pursue it.”