Wab Kinew ditched the proposal for a Safe Consumption Site (SCS) on Disraeli after his NDP government and the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre — the applicants to Health Canada — took a “check the box” approach to public feedback. The heavy lifting required for meaningful consultations, beyond a few hand-picked invitees, wasn’t done — and they got caught.

The one public consultation that was held came only after the communities of North and South Point Douglas and the East Exchange demanded answers about public safety, bylaw enforcement, and timelines for addiction recovery and detox programs. Housing and Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith and the “but it saves lives” advocates had no answers — and still didn’t 10 weeks later when residents organized their own town hall, forcing po

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