Norbert Cunningham: Drop the games, supply rehab beds

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If budget estimate committee hearings in the legislature are intended to better inform MLAs and the public, the session last Friday with Sherry Wilson, minister responsible for addictions and mental health services, was discouraging.

Wilson told opposition MLAs a new 50-bed drug rehab facility will treat patients voluntarily seeking treatment, not people forced into treatment, but then wouldn’t rule it out either. It’s yet more inane mixed messaging most likely only to generate further public cynicism about a government that’s been engaging in conflicting messages for months.

A new facility is being created. Wilson says it has been discussed ‘for some time.’ She said the location will be announced soon and setup and recruitment will cost $240,000. Government recently bought the likely building in Grand Bay-Westfield, a former WorkSafe NB rehab centre for $3.7 million, but hasn’t said why.

Then there’s the Compassionate Intervention Act. Premier Blaine Higgs says he expects to introduce it this session. Public Safety Minister Kris Austin has been vocally touting it since last fall and how it’ll force people with ‘extreme addictions’ into treatment. Never mind it’s likely a Charter rights violation.

Wilson said as many as 200 people are on a wait list of from three to eight months for rehab beds. With 10 beds added recently elsewhere, it’s 60 new ones. She also noted a 2019 study determined 119 new rehab beds were needed. It’s easy to see why Liberal critic Jacques LeBlanc says “I’m not a mathematician, but I can tell you this doesn’t add up.”

The premier’s government has had five years to get 119 drug rehab beds in place and is managing only 60. The minister surely knows the controversial plans for forced treatment. What they don’t seem to know is how bad it looks. Just tell voters straight.

Norbert Cunningham is a Brunswick News columnist and a retired editorial page editor of the Times & Transcript