Skip to main content

Pallister PCs vote against extending the ability of police to detain and help intoxicated persons to those on methamphetamine

On Tuesday May 22, my colleague Cindy Lamoureux, MLA for Burrows, introduced for second reading Bill 229, the Intoxicated Persons Detention Amendment Act, a bill which would clarify the current legal situation with respect to the ability of police to detain individuals intoxicated by drugs.   Currently the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act allows police to detain and help individuals who are intoxicated by alcohol.   The situation with respect to the ability of police to detain and help individuals who are intoxicated from taking methamphetamine is less clear.  Indeed, we hear that because of this uncertainty, and because of a court ruling that the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act only applies to alcohol intoxication, the police are sometimes in a difficult situation.  We understand that sometimes police may follow a person who is intoxicated by methamphetamine until he or she commits a crime so that they can detain and help the person with legal certainty.  I have been told of situations where the police have been called to help an individual who is intoxicated with meth, and the police say they can do nothing because they don't have the legal authority to detain the individual.  Last year, over the Christmas holidays a woman who was intoxicated with meth came for help at a Winnipeg  Emergency Room, but because of the uncertain legal situation she could not be detained and helped when she wanted to leave.  She left and was later found dead.   Surely we should be able to better help those who are intoxicated by methamphetamine.   In the Question Period during the debate on Bill 229, I asked Cindy Lamoureux about this situation.   See below (from Hansard). 
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, to my colleague.
      Around Christmastime there was a young woman who went to Seven Oaks who was intoxicated with meth, and she didn't stay, but she  left and she was found dead not long after. It was a very tragic event.
      Can you explain how this bill might prevent tragedies like that by being able to detain people?
Ms. Lamoureux: I'd like to thank my colleague from River Heights for the question.
      That's a great example of really what is happening and what we are trying to prevent from  happening again in the future. We need to be  proactive on this. By implementing this bill, it allows health-care professionals as well as our peace  officers to have the resources they need to properly work with people and provide people the  resources they need in a time of crisis during addictions.
Sadly, when it came time for a vote to move this legislation to committee so it could move forward, be considered, amended if needed, and then be passed into law, the Pallister PCs all voted against Bill 229.    As Liberals we were saddened and shocked to see that the Pallister PCs were not concerned enough about this situation, and about helping people methamphetamine toxicity to proceed.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March.  South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory.   The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions.   This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14.  Manitoba ( red line )  started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then.   South Dakota ( blue line )   has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4.  Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations
18 comments
Read more

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

  On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilati...
Post a Comment
Read more