Steinbach City Council voted on Tuesday to reject a proposal presented by Steinbach Community Outreach (SCO) seeking municipal support to access funding for harm reduction initiatives. The decision was made during a regular council meeting, where City Councillor Michael Zwaagstra made the motion to not proceed with the request, which was seconded by Councillor Susan Penner. The motion passed with council's approval.
The proposal from SCO was aimed at securing funding through the federal Emergency Treatment Fund, designed to support harm reduction initiatives in communities across Canada. However, eligibility criteria for the program are strict, and as a non-Indigenous not-for-profit organization, SCO did not qualify to apply directly for the funds. According to City Manager Troy Warkentin, the only way SCO could access the funding was if the City of Steinbach submitted the application on their behalf.
Warkentin clarified that the City would need to act as the applicant, but council's approval would be required for the city to take that step.
The motion to deny the request was driven by concerns over the temporary nature of the federal funding program and its potential long-term financial implications for the city.
“The motion was to not proceed with the request and there's a couple of reasons why,” said Zwaagstra. “One of the most significant is because the funding program that’s put in place by the federal government is a temporary program. The maximum length it would go was until March 31st, 2026. But a program that was being proposed by Community Outreach is something that would be on an ongoing basis and so this is very different from a one-time capital expense where a project would be completed."
Zwaagstra continued, “Our concern obviously is that when the funding comes to an end from the federal government, there's this program that now funding would need to come from somewhere and we obviously don’t want it to come from taxpayers in the city of Steinbach. The city is also concerned about moving in the direction of implementing harm reduction programs, where drug paraphernalia such as needles are being handed out. That's just not an avenue that the city wants to go in, and so in order for this program to move ahead, it would be under the auspices of the city of Steinbach, and we just didn’t want to move in that direction.”
Councillor Susan Penner, who seconded Zwaagstra's motion, expressed similar concerns, citing research into the impact of harm reduction initiatives in other communities. She pointed to evidence that such programs often fail to reduce harm and, in some cases, exacerbate the issues they aim to address.
"Based on the research that I have done, what I'm seeing is that a lot of communities and provinces that have gone down this road are changing course. So, harm reduction initiatives have actually ended up seeing an increase in the very harms they were trying to reduce. I don’t question the motives of people who want to advocate for these initiatives," Penner said.
She also expressed concern about the short-term nature of the funding available, suggesting that if the program were implemented, it could eventually leave the city responsible for ongoing funding. “This funding is available for a short while, and after that, it would be up to the city to continue providing funding,” Penner added.
Mayor Earl Funk told council that he doesn’t believe in simply taking care of the symptom.
“I think when we supply more material for them, more things for them, we take care of a symptom, we don’t take care of the problem. And I think there’s lots of resources out there, we need to start looking at the actual root of what is going on and taking care of those actual needs.”
Despite the rejection of the harm reduction proposal, council members were unanimous in their praise for SCO’s work on other projects, particularly The Bridge – an affordable housing initiative in the community. The Bridge is a capital project that aims to provide housing for those in need and has received broad support from the city.
“The Bridge project was a situation where the province made money available and then municipalities were able to distribute it to an organization, so that way, they could create affordable housing. That was a fantastic program. It’s one of the most successful programs we’ve had in that regard, where we had the money, and we gave it to Steinbach Community Outreach, and they built a capital project. I’m very open to more projects like that.”