My dear Red Deerians.

I wanted to share my vision with you today on what we can become as a recovery community in the years ahead. As you know, Council recently passed a motion asking the Government of Alberta to transition our Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) out of our community. This resolution was reached after an extensive amount of debate, research, discussion, tours of facilities, input from experts on every side of the issue, and, of course, much public input from our citizens from every part of our community.

I understand that some of us may be hurt, angry, confused, or in fear of what this could potentially mean for our city. I also understand that this is a divisive and emotional issue, striking at the heart of our beliefs and our compassion. At the core of this motion is the deep concern for the health and well-being of every Red Deerian but especially those who are afflicted with the disease of addiction.

My dear Red Deerians, Red Deer is not alone in its struggles in this tragic escalation of opioid addiction. Cities throughout Canada and North America, indeed throughout the world, are struggling to combat and overcome this disease in the face of ever-increasing toxic additives, organized crime, and the oppression of those most directly affected. Those directly affected people include our neighbours, our sons and daughters, our fellow employees and coworkers, the homeless, those in poverty, those suffering from mental health issues, those that are desperate.

It’s time for a full-on approach to this disease. It’s time to say as a city there is a better way, a far more compassionate and effective way, to restore the health and dignity of not only our effected citizens but all relationships affected by addiction, and by extension the health of our city and cities. Sadly, but so very tragically, there are only two routes through addiction, death or recovery.

Addiction is brutal, it is all consuming, it annihilates the individuals mind, body and soul and it annihilates relationships. It destroys hope and cripples’ communities. That is why I introduced the Alberta Model of Wellness to our Council in 2022 and asked them to endorse it as a way forward for Red Deer. I have been encouraged these past few years by the operational and capital investments made by the Government of Alberta in striving toward a recovery-oriented system of care.

Our recovery community at the north end of the city is fully operational now, providing treatment beds for over 70 people. The province is planning, in total, 11 recovery centres over the next few years to provide people a way towards restoration in a clinical and structured setting. Opioid agonist therapies are providing the much needed and much required harm reduction therapy. Locally, that clinic is now treating over 200 people and integrating them back into meaningful purpose. Our Dream Centre is operational and providing care for those affected by addictions. Therapeutic living units - the first ever in Alberta - are in operation at the Remand Centre providing recovery opportunity for those incarcerated.

Council’s motion did not simply call for a transition or closure of the OPS by the end of 2025. Far more importantly, and far more urgently, it called for a significant increase in mental health supports, in detox, in the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program (VOPD), in agonist therapy, supports in housing, and in police enforcement. This is the full measure response that I have communicated both in writing, and in person to the Ministry of Addictions and Mental Health.

Human life, all human life, is precious. We need, and must, come to the aid of our citizens who find themselves trapped. Shortly after Council passed this motion, I wrote a letter to Minister Dan Williams, Mental Health and Addictions with the Government of Alberta. I made it very clear, my dear Red Deerians, that those full measures are needed to effectively and sustainably bring health, safety and restoration to all who suffer from the disease of addiction. All the supports that I have outlined above and more as determined by the Health Ministry will be needed.

I am convinced that if supports are available in full measure and fully accessible to everyone they will be accessed and they will be effective in bringing people into recovery. The Minister and I had an excellent first meeting on March 12, 2024. He will shortly be sharing his preliminary strategies on the way forward with your Council. I was encouraged by his wisdom as he indicated that this will be a thoughtful, time framed, careful, strategic, and fully resourced response to our motion.

But to be truly successful, and to be truly transformational as a city, we will need to involve all our community. And most especially this includes our citizens, who may be fearful or angry, or doubtful that this is the way to approach this most critical issue. For that reason, I will be meeting over the next several months with members of the substance use coalition, with physicians, and other government and non-government agencies. The broader goal of our recovery vision is to be a full community of recovery. This means all our systems of care, our education, legal, correctional, judicial, housing, employment, and social supports, etcetera, will be focused on community wellness. To get this done, to get this restoration, and this renewal, it will require all of us to keep always, the suffering, the desperate, the addicted and oppressed at the heart of our conversations.

I am learning from everyone and am looking for their ideas, for their hearts, and for their energies. I will have more to report on this over the next few months, but for now, my dear Red Deerians I wanted to inform you, invite you, and engage you as we go forward in the journey of recovery.

Hope to see you shortly in this beautiful city we call home.

Mayor Ken Johnston