Alberta Is Doing What Manitoba Won’t but Should

Alberta is facing the same addiction crisis gripping many provinces in Canada, but it’s not spinning its wheels. It’s acting. And it’s time Manitoba took notes.

In 2024, 1,414 Albertans died from drug poisonings — 1,182 of those from opioid overdoses. In response, Alberta is pushing ahead with a bold, controversial, but focused solution: compulsory treatment for individuals in the throes of extreme addiction. It’s called The Compassionate Intervention Act, and if passed, it will allow family members, doctors, and law enforcement to petition for an addict to be placed in treatment for up to six months. In the most severe cases, people can be held in secure facilities for three months, unable to refuse care.

Critics will be quick to call it coercion. But let’s look at the alternative. In Manitoba, the number of overdose deaths is climbing, not falling. According to the Manitoba government’s own data, 2023 saw 418 drug-related deaths — most tied to fentanyl and other opioids. That’s more than one death every single day. If 400 Manitobans died from tainted water or a viral outbreak, the response would be urgent. So where is that urgency now?

Instead, our provincial government is entertaining the same failed strategies used in British Columbia. Supervised injection sites. Government-distributed narcotics. Decriminalization of hard drugs. These are the tools that B.C. leaned on, and the result has been catastrophic. Since implementing these policies, overdose deaths have increased. In 2023 alone, B.C. recorded 2,511 deaths from illicit drug toxicity — the highest on record.

British Columbia became the first province in Canada to decriminalize small amounts of drugs in January 2023. They hoped to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal one. But with no guardrails, the policy enabled open-air drug use near schools, in public parks, and on transit — exposing kids and families to chaos and crime. Even the B.C. government recently had to roll back the law, making it illegal again to use hard drugs in public spaces.

Meanwhile, Alberta is going in the opposite direction. They’ve committed $180 million over three years to build two secure 150-bed treatment centres — one in Calgary and one in Edmonton — and are repurposing existing youth facilities to expand access. The idea behind their model is simple: not every person addicted to fentanyl or meth is in a state to choose recovery. Some have lost all agency. They’re not showing up to clinics. They’re not sticking to treatment. Many aren’t even aware they’re killing themselves.

Under Alberta’s proposed law, individuals would only be detained if they are likely to cause harm to themselves or others. They’d be reviewed by a panel including a lawyer, a doctor, and a member of the public. Treatment plans would be reassessed every six weeks, and patients would still have access to legal representation. The goal is not punishment — it’s recovery. And unlike brief detox stints, this model is based on research showing that the brain needs a minimum of 90 days away from drug use to begin healing.

In Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew has stayed quiet on the biggest addiction crisis in our province’s history. His government has been entertaining the idea of a supervised injection site near a school in Winnipeg — a move that ignores the growing frustration of parents and communities already overwhelmed by the fallout of addiction. How does this make sense? We’re talking about normalized public drug use steps away from where children learn. It’s a policy decision rooted more in ideology than results.

The data speaks for itself. Supervised injection sites might prevent some overdoses inside their walls, but they do nothing to break the cycle of addiction or reduce the presence of toxic drugs in the community. Meanwhile, violent crime, theft, and social disorder skyrocket around them. Just ask the residents and business owners in downtown Vancouver.

The cost of doing nothing is high. Alberta estimates that untreated addictions cost their province $7 billion a year in health care, lost productivity, and justice system expenses. And that’s without factoring in the damage to families, communities, and public safety. Manitoba can’t afford to wait. The longer we delay real reform, the more people we lose.

It’s time for Premier Kinew to take leadership and consider an approach that prioritizes both individual recovery and public safety. Alberta’s model may not be perfect, and it will likely face court challenges. But it’s grounded in the understanding that recovery isn’t just possible — it’s necessary.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about throwing people in jail or stripping them of their rights. It’s about creating a pathway out of chaos for those too far gone to find it themselves. It’s about putting a stop to the daily toll of overdose deaths that now outnumber homicides, suicides, and motor vehicle fatalities combined in some provinces. And yes — it’s about protecting our streets, our transit systems, our parks, and our schools from becoming open drug markets.

We need a direct approach. That means real investment in treatment — not enabling. It means more recovery beds, more outreach teams, and yes, the political courage to intervene when someone is on the brink of death and incapable of choosing recovery on their own.

Alberta has stepped up. Manitoba should do the same — before we add another 400 names to next year’s grim tally.