Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 20, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba A gift made to our Community Fund in 2024, has the flexibility to support the needs of Winnipeggers every year, now and forever! Did you know your gift today will support the changing needs of our community in 2074? Learn more about community funds at wpgfdn.org BEER GARDENS RAIN OR SHINE FOOD TRUCKS H E A D I N G L E Y, m a n i t o b a WWW.COAST2COASTAUCTIONS.CA September 13 & 14 2024 C O N S I G N N O W ! oast C oast C 2 COLLECTOR CAR AUCTIONS live fall collector car auction Don’t hesitate! Call us today to consign 1-204-895-9790 Associated Auto Auction Presents.... A10 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM L AST week, the Manitoba government announced the fulfilment of an election promise, pledging $727,000 to support the development of an Indigenous-led supervised con- sumption site downtown, near Main Street, in 2025. Manitoba is the only province west of Atlantic Canada without a supervised consumption site. People experiencing addiction use the sites to inject or otherwise use drugs in a non-judgmental environment. This prevents overdoses and deaths and provides access to supports necessary to escape substance abuse. Such “wraparound” supports usually include mental health care, employment and skill training and the facilitation of a healthy network or relationships necessary for a “clean,” balanced lifestyle. Since Canada’s first safe consumption site in Vancouver opened in 2003, health advocates have argued that for a minimal cost, most such initiatives reduce crime, death and the spread of diseases such as HIV while pro- viding health care and opportuni- ties to those who need it most. Money is saved too. In 2019, I wrote a column about the safe consumption program at Shelter House in Thunder Bay, Ont. Researchers from the University of Victoria studying the program found the initiative resulted in a 37 per cent reduc- tion in hospital admissions, a 54 per cent reduction in emergency room use and 42 per cent fewer police interactions. The researchers concluded every Ontario taxpayer “saved 10 to 20 cents” because clients at the sites don’t require paramedic aid and trips to the hospital as they would in a home or on the streets. The cost for not having a super- vised consumption site was best explained in a column by my Free Press colleague Tom Brodbeck, when he said the reluctance of the previous Progressive Conser- vative government “literally cost lives.” As I’ve pointed out previously, deaths related to addiction have been on the incline in Manitoba since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, 445 deaths were attributed to “substance-related” issues, the office of the province’s chief medical examiner said. The previous year saw 467 deaths, which is the record. CBC reported last week that a preliminary report from the medical examiner’s office said 89 substance-related deaths were reported in the first two months of 2024, meaning this year might break the record. Winnipeg is in an addiction cri- sis and something must be done. For potential clients of a safe consumption site in Winnipeg, it’s not enough to only provide clean needles and access to health-care providers. Answers to addic- tion emerge when the reasons a person becomes addicted are considered. That brings me to the Indig- enous-led part of Winnipeg’s future supervised consumption site. Most people probably think it’s crucial the strategy is Indig- enous-led because many who suffer from addiction here are Indigenous. It’s true that people with cultural familiarity, fluency and experience are probably the best at helping those from their own culture heal. But, there are other, equally important reasons for the site to be Indigenous-led. It will be good for all Winni- peggers. Let me explain. Indigenous senses of health are almost exclusively proactive. In most Indigenous commu- nities, the leading health-care providers are those who have the most knowledge about the territories, histories and stories of the people. It’s not that doctors and nurses aren’t valuable, it’s that they often only deal with health reactively, such as when a bone is broken. This approach to health is often too late. As anyone knows, a problem is never fixed if the root causes are not part of the solution. For exam- ple, if a person who cannot ride a bike is simply put back on the bike and not taught how to ride it, they will crash in perpetuity. A person stuck in a cycle of problems must be taught how to rebuild their cycles and not be defined by the problem. Indigenous health-care provid- ers care first and foremost about relationships — specifically, those that address a person’s mind, body, heart and spirit. This is why Indigenous grandparents care not only about eating healthy and doing well in school, but falling in love and laying tobacco to give thanks every day. This is why aunties and uncles care as much about finding a job and exercising as they do building independence and pride through building a fire and tak- ing care of water. This is why Indigenous health- care providers care as much about building community, so everyone — human and non-hu- man — can benefit collectively from the gifts of one another. This is the definition of “wrap- around” care — the key to the success of all safe consumption sites throughout Canada. An Indigenous-led solution might just be the proactive solu- tion to help a crisis that affects everyone. niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca SIGNATURES and handshakes sealed the deal on a historic land transfer in western Manitoba Fri- day. Premier Wab Kinew and Manitoba Métis Feder- ation president David Chartrand signed a memo- randum of understanding to begin the transfer of 100 acres of Crown land at Ste. Madeleine back to the Métis, who had established it. “I prayed one day that justice would be on our side and that day is here,” Chartrand said at the signing, which took place during the community’s annual Métis Days celebration. The village, some 340 kilometres west of Winni- peg in the Rural Municipality of Russell-Binscarth, was established in the 1880s and stood until 1938, when the federal government burned it down for pasture as per the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act of 1935. A Roman Catholic mission was established in 1902 by Father Jules Decorby and, at its peak in the late 1920s, more than 400 people lived there, as per the Manitoba Historical Society. The agreement will start the process of giving the land to the federation, which will seek to add on to the current graveyard meant for descendants of those who built the community. “You’ll never have to ask permission to bury your loved one in the graveyard again,” Chartrand said. Kinew called the moment a righting of a historic wrong. “Today is a new day in Manitoba,” Kinew told a crowd who gathered to witness the signing. “We’re going to make sure we do this right.” The Prairie Farm law was passed by the fed- eral government in 1935 to provide land for the improvement of agricultural conditions in Prairie provinces that had suffered from drought and soil drifting. In 1939, the Métis families who lived in Ste. Mad- eleine and had their taxes paid up to date were to be compensated and relocated. Houses were burned, dogs were shot and the parish church was dismantled for a piggery, according to the book Ste. Madeleine: Community Without a Town; Métis Elders in Interview. The federation is looking for 600 to 700 acres in the area, Chartrand said in a separate interview Thursday. Descendants of families who had their homes reduced to ashes have talked about re- turning and building small houses or cabins. During the signing, Chartrand hinted a monu- ment would be erected to explain the history of the site and include the names of residents evicted from the land. The president said he hoped the deal was not initiated because the premier is First Nations and felt a responsibility to conduct the return of land, but because it’s the right thing to do. “I said one day there will be a time when this will be done right… there will be a leader who comes to us and that leader is here now. His name is Wab Kinew,” Chartrand told the crowd. Kinew assured the deal was being made in good faith. “You have a friend in the provincial govern- ment here in Manitoba,” he said. John Fleury, the federation’s employment minis- ter, called the signing momentous. “Thank God for Wab, thank God for the Mani- toba Métis Federation and thank God to all you descendants of Ste. Madeleine who kept the dream alive. God bless you all,” Fleury said. nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca NEWS I LOCAL SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2024 Indigenous-led solution to universal crisis NIIGAAN SINCLAIR OPINION NICOLE BUFFIE Manitoba returns 100 acres to Métis at Ste. Madeleine Premier Wab Kinew and Métis federation president David Chartrand hold up the agreement after signing it. Feds razed community in 1938 The cemetery is all that remains of the Métis village of Ste. Madeleine, 350 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. BILL REDEKOP / FREE PRESS FILES ;