PHR would welcome Regina-style city funding, Clark exploring options

With Saskatchewan still in the grips of an overdose death crisis, and with the province’s refusal to fund safe consumption sites, funding has been tough to come by.

Saskatoon’s lone safe consumption site, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), has had its share of no’s from the province.

In the last provincial budget cycle announced April 6, PHR was denied for multiple requests ranging from around $300,000 to $1.3 million.

The no’s haven’t changed, according to executive director Jason Mercredi.

“We’ll see how it goes, you never know,” he said Wednesday. “We have requested a meeting.”

Since January, 171 overdose deaths have occurred in Saskatchewan, with 46 confirmed and 125 suspected. Nine have been in Saskatoon, according to the latest report by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

In Regina, it’s a different situation. Twenty-nine deaths have been confirmed in the capital since January, with another 118 recorded in the city in 2020.

Because of that, the City of Regina opened up grant applications, distributing $500,000 to programs, services and initiatives that “support harm reduction” in the city.

The city unveiled the program on June 3, with the grants coming from a council amendment in the 2021 budget where one-time funding was drawn from the COVID-19 Recovery Reserve.

“The primary objective of this initiative is to increase access to support services and reduce harm associated with drug use in Regina. Harm reduction is an approach taken in many cities that focuses on the prevention of harm in people who continue to use drugs, rather than on the prevention of drug use itself,” the city’s release states.

In Saskatoon, Mayor Charlie Clark stated April 7 — the day following the provincial budget announcement — that he felt opportunities were missed for funding in harm reduction.

“(I) was hoping to see some of those strategic investments in, whether it’s the Prairie Harm (Reduction’s) overdose prevention site or other expansions of these harm reduction services, so we can break the cycles of overdoses,” he said.

Clark shared a statement with 650 CKOM Wednesday, outlining that he has been in regular contact with Regina Mayor Sandra Masters about the addictions crisis.

“Saskatoon’s configuration of services and programs are different than Regina’s, but we are also continuing to explore ways that can effectively respond to this significant health issue in our community,” Clark stated in an email.

He did not say whether adding similar funding here would be in the city’s future, or if it was being considered.

After the back-and-forth with the provincial government in recent years, Mercredi said health funding still falls on the province.

“We would welcome (City of Saskatoon funding), of course,” he said. “(But) it’s a health service (and) it’s a provincial responsibility. They can’t be shrinking this and passing this off. They already passed it off to the private sector through fundraising; they can’t be trying to get it off onto the city’s budget.”

The private sector has stepped up to help PHR’s operating budget. Nearly $181,000 was raised in the month of April after the provincial budget announcement.

That has changed the way PHR operates. When the funding was denied to operate longer hours at the facility, PHR was stuck in a 10 a.m.-to-4 p.m. schedule.

With the donations, Mercredi is working on expanding hours into the evening, something he announced on the Brent Loucks Show on May 3.

Mercredi gave an update on the change of hours Wednesday.

“It’s going to take us a little bit. We’re just waiting on word from the feds in order for them to grant us the hours exemption and then, once they do, we’re going to be opening in the evening,” he said.

Mercredi ballparked the expansion as within the next week or so, but it is dependent on applications being granted.

He explained the needs of the expansion, and how it will impact the surrounding community through all seasons.

“(It’s) the biggest request we get,” Mercredi said. “We have to start prepping (and) getting ready for winter. When the cold-weather strategy is in effect, there’s not really any places open for people who use drugs in the evening. We want to be open.”