St. Stephen Mayor Steve Backman is hopeful for change after the province promised to help address the town’s recent overdose surge.
Backman said it’s still unclear what those solutions will look like, but he’s grateful for the government’s support.
He explained that because the province is responsible for healthcare, mental health, and housing, the town feels better equipped to address the situation.
“We as a municipality are really set up to deal with water, sewer pipes, roads, recreation, those kinds of things, so we are not only under-resourced; we don’t have any of the skill sets either,” he added. “So, we are really dependent on the province to come forward and help.”
On Sunday night, nine guests in the local shelter Lighthouse Lodge suffered overdoses, which strained the town’s emergency services.
In a previous interview with Acadia Broadcasting on Tuesday, Backman said the town hoped to introduce wraparound services to address the situation, particularly mental health services and other addiction supports.
Since then, Backman said several cabinet ministers, as well as New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health and the local emergency response representative, have reached out.
Following that support, Backman said he is optimistic it will help lay the groundwork for a more concrete plan to improve the situation.
“We did have an incident yesterday afternoon again, although on a much smaller scale, but we still don’t want to see those overdoses happening,” he said.
Backman added he hopes those solutions also support surrounding residents.
“The other important concern for us as a council and for the community is not to forget the people who are innocent bystanders and still impacted, so we need to protect their mental health as well,” he said.
Ministers say plan is on the works
The province’s commitment was made during Wednesday’s legislative session by Mental Health and Addictions Minister Rob McKee and Social Development Minister Cindy Miles, after both were repeatedly pressed on the issue by Progressive Conservative MLA Kathy Bockus, who represents St. Stephen.
“The neighbours around the shelter have reached a breaking point,” Bockus told the legislature.
“They deal with fights among the homeless shelter occupants, the constant screaming of insults at all hours of the day and night, and the uproar created by the arrival of emergency personnel at 11:30 p.m. when most are in bed trying to prepare for another workday,” she said.
Bockus later asked the province when neighbours around the shelter could expect relief from “the hellish conditions they are living in,” claiming that the support provided to Lighthouse Lodge by the province is not helping guests but enabling them to continue with “their unhealthy lifestyles.”
“Residents want the shelter gone,” she added.
In response, Minister McKee said the province has engaged addictions, mental health and non-profit partners to coordinate a response to “ensure that communities get the services they need through this situation.”
He added that the province is also pulling from lessons learned from the overdose crisis in Moncton, which saw an unprecedented spike of 50 overdose calls per day for several weeks, starting late May.
Meanwhile, Minister Miles said homelessness is a complex issue, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution in Stephen.
“This is a whole multi-department response to this,” she said. “We know numbers are climbing and we know that we can’t support folks if they are not housed and that’s what we are building towards.”
Miles said the province doesn’t want to create more shelters but wants to see people housed “with the dignity and supports they deserve.”
She added the government is committed to working with the people of St. Stephen to find a path forward.
There is still no update about the substance or substances that caused the string of overdoses.
However, Backman said that the drugs used have been sent for testing, which makes him feel positive that the cause will be revealed soon.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Yves Leger, was going to visit St. Stephen, when in fact he is not. We regret the error.
