CARLA BECK’S TEAM WILL ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE DRUG CRISIS BILL, CALLS OUT SCOTT MOE FOR ALLOWING CRISIS TO OVERWHELM COMMUNITIES

More Than 300 Overdose Calls In Saskatoon This Month Alone, 140 In Regina

REGINA – Carla Beck’s team intends to propose improvements to the problems in Bill 48 amid a drug crisis in Saskatchewan that is killing nearly a person per day and overwhelming frontline responders across the province.

Bill 48, Scott Moe’s so-called The Compassionate Intervention Act, will soon move to committee, where amendments can be introduced. Many of the proposals that the NDP intends to put forward have been developed based on consultation with frontline healthcare workers and those involved with other support agencies and advocacy groups.

Under the Sask. Party’s watch, the drug crisis has gotten out of control. Frontline responders reported 140 overdose-related calls in Regina between April 1-21. In Saskatoon, that number more than doubled to a staggering 301 calls between April 1-19.

“The rate of overdoses we’re seeing is unprecedented — and it’s clear and devastating evidence of a Sask. Party government that, after 20 years, has failed to address a drug crisis and invest in frontline services to save lives,” said Betty Nippi-Albright, Shadow Minister for Mental Health & Addictions. “Frontline responders are their breaking point. Imagine trying to manage 16 overdose calls in a single day — that’s exactly what we’re seeing in Saskatoon.

“The Premier has failed, the government has failed and people will continue to die at a devastating rate — even if Bill 48 is overhauled and strengthened, it will not make up for 20 years of the Sask. Party.”

Nippi-Albright and Justice Shadow Minister Nicole Sarauer intend to introduce amendments to the legislation at committee to try to improve it and meaningfully address the drug crisis.

“We know that reality is we need major investment in frontline services to save lives and in crime fighting initiatives to crackdown on the heartless individuals preying on people suffering from addiction and flooding our streets with drugs,” Sarauer said. “Scott Moe wants to pretend Bill 48 will make all the problems he’s created go away — it won’t.”

Nippi-Albright added: “We have zero evidence there are enough treatment spaces for those voluntarily trying to get help, let alone those being forced involuntarily into treatment.”

Some of the problems with Bill 48 that Carla Beck’s team intend to address at committee include:

The lack of any guarantee that patients seeking voluntary treatment will be prioritized ahead of those ordered to attend involuntary treatment.
The ability for a hearing panel to issue an involuntary treatment order based on the low standard of a balance of probabilities.
The ability for a panel to issue involuntary treatment orders with only a majority of members.
The lack of timelines for reevaluating treatment orders and the limit of only one review on a treatment order.
The lack of guaranteed access to legal representation throughout the legal process for patients.
The absence of a requirement that there be an Indigenous person on hearing and review panels where the patient is of Indigenous ancestry, and the lack of access to Indigenous cultural programming.
The insufficient connections that exist between the current health system, Bill 48, and existing health laws.
The lack of strict public reporting requirements and facility inspection timelines.

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