Alberta’s UCP government proposed a new approach to help people who struggle with addiction, announcing plans this week to build two involuntary drug treatment facilities and a new law to force addicts into treatment.
The controversial plan is designed to place individuals struggling with drug addiction into mandated rehabilitation when deemed to be a danger to themselves and others.
The Compassionate Intervention Act will allow family members, doctors, and law enforcement to petition the province’s family court for a treatment order.
The UCP government plans to spend $180 million over the next three years to begin building two facilities in Calgary and Edmonton, with construction starting in 2026. Each facility will have 150 beds and the proper care staff to attend to the needs of those struggling with substance abuse.
“These new facilities show a strong commitment to delivering on our promise for compassionate intervention, ensuring families are no longer forced to watch their loved ones suffer from the deadly disease of addiction,” said Dan Williams, Alberta’s minister of mental health and addiction, on Monday.
Critics wonder if the plan will work, though.
Doubts about involuntary treatment
David Lewry, addictions counsellor and executive director of Freedoms House Recovery Society, urges caution when it comes to mandated treatment, questioning its effectiveness.
“I understand that their main defence for it is to save lives, and I appreciate that’s where folks think they’re coming from,” said Lewry, but adds, “I feel like it’s going to start infringing on people’s rights and freedoms.”
Lewry said his main concern is how people will be treated when they are not voluntarily seeking help.
“We forget that’s someone’s brother or someone’s sister, or someone’s daughter or someone’s son,” said Lewry. “And no matter how ill that son or daughter may find themselves, they are still human. At no point in time should we be writing people off and saying, ‘we’re just gonna lock you up for your own good.’”
Lewry is also concerned that the approach is not new, with advocates previously raising concerns over the proposed legislation, and suggests danger faced in similar settings, like homeless shelters, could result from the new facilities.
“Shelters in themselves can be thought of as dangerous. Of course, they also save lives,” said Lewry. “If shelters are inherently potentially dangerous places, because of the small percentage of folks who like to prey on other people, what’s going to be different? And what could possibly be different when you’re forcing them to be there?”
“The bottom line is, are we going to be able to save lives?” wonders Lewry.
Now, if it saves lives, then that will, maybe, justify it for some folks,” he adds.
UCP defends recovery-oriented system
The UCP has repeatedly criticized harm-reduction efforts, including supervised drug consumption sites.
On Monday, Premier Danielle Smith heralded her government’s recovery-oriented system while announcing the new treatment facilities and proposed legislation. Smith stressed that the model “will help keep our communities safe while ensuring our most vulnerable can access much-needed recovery supports.”
The proposed compassionate intervention facilities will be completed in 2029.