Opinion editorial by MSTH Co-Founder Petra Schulz published in the Edmonton Journal April 29, 2026
The toxic drug crisis has been raging in this province and across the country for over 10 years. Sadly, last week, the person in charge of the response in Alberta, Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Rick Wilson, proved himself unworthy of a position of trust.
On Tuesday, April 21, Minister Wilson stated in the Alberta legislature that he personally watched someone die in a supervised consumption site (SCS) he visited in Edmonton. The minister’s exact words were: “These people that are in there: I have actually seen them collapse and die right in front of me.”
Except that nobody died in a consumption site in the province last week, last month, last year, or at any point since the locations opened in 2017. As a matter of fact, nobody has ever died inside a consumption site, anywhere.
Since 2016, 55,000 Canadians have died from toxic drugs. There would be thousands more if it was not for the life-saving intervention of consumption and overdose prevention sites, where over 58,000 overdoses were reversed between 2017 and 2024.
Consumption services are health facilities where people consume drugs they bring, while monitored by staff who respond to drug poisonings (overdoses). SCS acts as a pathway to other important services, including treatment.
Perhaps the minister witnessed an overdose, but did not stay long enough to see the person being revived by the trained and experienced nurses and support workers. The fact remains that nobody died that day, and Minister Wilson should not claim otherwise.
By describing consumption services in this way, Minister Wilson made a choice to misrepresent their hard work. He fails to understand their mandate and role in both reversing poisonings and reducing the spread of communicable diseases, like AIDS.
Quite a gap in knowledge for the minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
The minimal expectation Albertans have of our elected officials is not to spread misinformation and discredit hardworking health-care workers. Not inside or outside the legislature.
We call on Minister Wilson to retract his statement and issue an apology to the service provider. We also call for his resignation as minister of Mental Health and Addictions, as he has lost the trust of the people he is supposed to serve.
Furthermore, we call on the Speaker of the Alberta legislature to fulfill his role, and ensure that what is spoken inside the house is based on fact and evidence, not conjecture and falsehoods.
People who use drugs in this province deserve to live, regardless, if they seek treatment or not. Consumption services are one effective public health intervention that has saved thousands of lives. Thousands of families were spared the grieving for their loved ones because of SCS.
As advocates for evidence-informed drug policy, we are appalled by the minister’s disregard for the lives and well-being of people who use drugs and his disrespect for the staff who are working hard to care for these Albertans.
