RED DEER, Alta. — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney slammed supervised drug-consumption sites as he announced the first of several planned addictions treatment and recovery centres for the province, saying there's no compassion in telling people they can't recover from drugs.
At an announcement outside Red Deer's city hall on Saturday, Kenney along with several ministers said the province will provide up to $5 million to build a 75-bed recovery community in the central Alberta city.
It follows news earlier this week that Alberta would spend $25 million to build five new recovery and treatment facilities across the province, adding 400 additional mental health and treatment beds.
Kenney says while abstinence from drugs is "obviously essential," he says the recovery community experience is "about confronting the realities of life, learning how to cope with them, and becoming a strong, fully functioning person."
On Thursday the Alberta government ended its funding agreement with a supervised drug consumption site in Lethbridge after an audit showed financial irregularities.
A report commissioned by the United Conservative government and released in March suggested supervised drug consumption sites have sown chaos in communities, have overplayed their life-saving effects and lack accountability.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2020.
The Canadian Press
