Province establishing corporation to improve mental health, addictions services
By Lethbridge Herald on April 10, 2024.
Al Beeber
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
The province is introducing legislation to establish the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence as a Crown corporation to improve mental health and addiction services through research, evaluation and advice to the Alberta government.
Introduction of Bill 17, the Canadian Centre of Recover Excellence Act was done Tuesday afternoon in the Alberta Legislature.
The purpose of CoRE, says the province, is to “advance and coordinate mental health and addiction research to inform and support government in building the Alberta Recovery Model for mental health and addiction.”
It will support the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction and Recovery Alberta with research, data analysis and the exploration of global best practices.
Privacy protections have been legislated under Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) and the Health Information Act.
The 2024 budget provides $5 million in funding to support CoRE’s establishment.
CoRE will be set up as a public agency subject to provincial legislation and as an agent of the Crown, it will operate with the legal backing and authority of the provincial government.
“CoRE will be an essential partner to government in assessing mental health and addiction services that produce strong outcomes for Albertans on the path to recovery. The expanded research that CoRE will provide allows for more evidence-based decisions under the Alberta Recovery Model,” said Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams in a statement.
There are three components to its mandate:
• To lead research/evaluation and innovation related to the province’s recovery approach to addiction treatment – Alberta Recovery Model.
• To advance public policy for mental health and addiction by providing an evidence-based approach to improving treatment and the delivery of mental health and addiction services to Albertans.
• To provide government with information necessary to better evaluate, plan, allocate resources and manage the health system and improve service delivery.
There will be limitations set on its power, in particular its abilities to accept certain sources of funding.
A board will oversee and manage CoRE, its duties which will include establishing policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and privacy, information collection, use and disclosure and research processes.
A research ethics board review will support ethical research conducted by CoRE or affiliates.
If the bill is passed, the province expects CoRE to become operational this summer.
18-17
I am not doing the Happy Dance yet, but this will be promising IF implemented properly.
Harm reduction doesn’t work . . . period! Sure you may have saved one or two here and one or two there, but thousands died in the meantime. And yes, there is documented proof of someone dying IN a SCS in BC. And, others that just left the site and died within a block!
Who looks after them after they leave, or go to their Single Occupancy Residency and overdoses. Often drugs or alcohol hits you harder once you start moving around. Lethbridge had one person die right in the parking lot of the SCS, while many others died within 2 blocks! The stats are there!
BC has had 21 years to prove it works and keep up coming up with more excuses why it is failing and then implementing more dangerous policies while the fatal overdoses continue to rise.
Now in Alberta, the pro-harm reductionists keep on throwing out stats in Alberta, screaming Alberta has had a 130% increase in the last 5 years . . . they fail to report what the increase in BC is as the numbers continue to rise. Nanaimo alone has had a 400% increase in fatal overdoses in that time period.
BC has over 50 SCS and OPS sites, and with all the programs they have deployed, they still see significant increases. Note that since decriminalisation, reported opioid-related toxicity deaths increased by nearly 5%. Alberta only has 7 SCS/OPS sites.
I would also note that BC, as opposed to Alberta and Saskatchewan, does not perform autopsies which detail all toxic substances and do not look for safe supply drugs as aggressively. Often safe supply fatal overdoses are not recorded as such and focus on other substances which are called “toxic street drugs”. That report also stated that those who examine the bodies often do not have the training the Coroner has, which reflects in the stats for fatal overdoses.Which means that in fact their fatal overdoses are higher!
Fatal overdoses are up all over North America, but they are higher in BC than Alberta per capita, and with all the programs BC has and Supervised Consumption Sites and Overdose Prevention Sites, there should be tangible evidence that shows significantly lower per capita fatal overdoses in BC . . . but they continue to increase!
No study is needed . . .the stats are there and BC has proven harm reduction doesn’t work.
Their safe supply program is already seeing large amounts of taxpayer paid free drugs end up being sold by drug dealers and organized crime in BC!
Effective treatment programs are where our tax dollars should be going, not non-profits who encourage and enable addicts to continue their addiction, while slowly killing them in a painful death, which is truly Hell on earth!
BC has a billion dollar non-profit industry funded by all levels of government . . . our federal tax dollars are paying for their mad experiment while we see funding slashed to programs such as Seniors Abuse.
I am cautiously optimistic by this move and support it!