Province promises $3.5 million for residential treatment centre

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This article was published 31/05/2020 (1425 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province announced Monday it is chipping in $3.5 million towards the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

“Our investment will be used toward capital construction cost,” Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen said. “The centre will be a long-term residential treatment centre that will ensure more Manitobans get the care they need, where they need it.”

Friesen said the announcement is part of the province’s pledge to improve mental health services throughout Manitoba, and the Winnipeg addiction recovery facility will compliment existing services.

Scott Oake and his wife, Anne, joined Friesen at a news conference outside the legislative building.

“It’s on schedule, foundation is poured, walls set to go up, and this generous grant from the province today ensures that construction will continue uninterrupted and that we will be open for business in a little over a year,” said Oake. “That would be the business of saving lives.”

The project broke ground in August, and construction on the centre began in January. Oake said the province’s contribution brings it very close to reaching its $16-million fund-raising goal.

The Oakes’ first-born son, Bruce, died of a heroin overdose March 28, 2011. Oake said he and his wife wrote Bruce’s obituary on the way to Calgary to retrieve his body. They realized then addiction is an illness, and that’s when the movement to build the recovery centre began.

“Obviously, we still grieve,” said Oake. “But today, we have joy in our hearts because we can report to you the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is becoming a reality.”

Friesen echoed the need for the centre, saying 13 per cent of Manitobans live with an alcohol or drug addiction (the national average is 11 per cent). The new 50-bed facility could potentially assist more people because, Friesen said, clients don’t have to pay for the program right away.

“You pay as you are able to pay. And no one is unable to receive care because there is a financial obstacle that could be in their way — that is a game changer,” the minister said. “It will create access to treatment that in some cases has been inaccessible.”

Friesen said more than 2,100 Manitobans have signed up online support programs during the pandemic.

The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is scheduled to open its doors in spring 2021.

kellen.taniguchi@freepress.mb.ca