The Tories say an intake form to be used at the coming supervised consumption site raises concerns about drug use by youths.

On Monday, the Progressive Conservatives provided copies of two forms obtained from Health Canada through an access-to-information request they say was filed by the Point Douglas Residents Committee. The committee has opposed the opening of a safe consumption site.

One form about risk assessment asks people whether they’re pregnant, a first-time user, a youth or not at-risk. Another section asks guests to check off one of more than a dozen categories of drugs that apply, such as methamphetamines, benzodiazepines and opioids. 

“On this side of the House, we don’t believe that there’s any age in which you should consume drugs,” PC Leader Obby Khan said during question period Monday. “There’s no such thing as a safe consumption site.”

Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith later told reporters that anyone under 16 or suspected to be under 16 will not be allowed to use drugs at the site and will be connected with other resources. She said staff members will make a judgment call if someone does not have identification to show their age.

“This is about making sure people have access to services,” she said, saying the PCs are “fearmongering.”

The NDP says gathering drug and demographic details is about facing the reality that people using drugs might suffer overdoses.

Responding to Khan, Premier Wab Kinew said he doesn’t approve of drug use “at any age,” either, but the reality is that people use them.

“We have hundreds of people dying each and every year,” Kinew said.

“We’re making treatment more available. We’re bringing the hammer down on traffickers … and we are also working on harm reduction.”

Documents to be administered by Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre staff members at the Henry Avenue consumption site include checkbox options. One box is for those wishing to use drugs as a group. Another checkbox option is for people interested in connecting with a range of health services and addiction supports, the documents show.

The PCs pointed to a liability waiver people must sign if they want to have a peer inject their drug for them, a process known as “doctoring.”

Agassiz PC MLA Jodie Byram asked what safeguards will be in place for peer-to-peer drug use and whether the “patron, staff or the government that allowed this practise in the first place” will be responsible if something goes wrong.

Smith said staff at the site will be trained and capable. She referenced a report the PC government under then-premier Brian Pallister received that recommended a safe consumption site.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the PC “buried their heads in the sand” when they were in power. She chastised the PCs for talking about people with addictions challenges “with such disdain.”

Kinew revealed last week that the NDP government had learned it did not need permission from the federal government it had thought was required before opening. That realization came after after months of co-ordinating with Health Canada on permits.

Kinew and Smith previously said the supervised consumption site could open in the coming weeks, likely first as a temporary or mobile unit while work continues at the main site.

Khan has suggested the NDP is focused on the wrong legislative priorities amid the cost of living and other challenges facing Manitoba families.

Some in the Henry Avenue area have raised public safety concerns about having a supervised consumption site in the neighbourhood.

Smith alluded last week to a recent McGill University study focused on nine supervised and addiction prevention sites in Toronto over a 10-year span. It found that, for the most part, such sites weren’t associated with a rise in local crime.

There was an increase in break-ins around some sites after they opened, but those trends declined shortly afterward, the researchers suggest. Robberies, bicycle thefts, thefts from cars and other robberies around the sites tended to plateau or declined over time.

“We’re motivated by compassion. We’re motivated by evidence,” Kinew said Monday. “We’re going to make sure that there’s a path to recovery. We’re also using harm reduction.”

Arlene Last-Kolb, an advocate with Moms Stop the Harm, lost her son to an opioid overdose more than a decade ago.

“I am glad that we are finally getting to this step. It’s long overdue. People are dying every day,” she said, questioning whether some parts of the intake form are necessary.

“They’re looking for safety. They’re not looking for a bunch of questions.”

Last-Kolb said Manitoba needs a safe supply of drugs, including the ones identified in the intake form.

“It’s a perfect example of why we need a regulated supply. If these are the types of drugs that we already know are on our street, are they saying this is acceptable?” she said, adding treatment and consumption sites are only part of the equation.

“We need all of it, absolutely, but you cannot tell me that we are not in an emergency with our toxic drugs, with people dying every day.”