Harm Reduction Saves Lives: EHW Supports Sunshine House’s Push for Federal Exemption
August 12, 2025
End Homelessness Winnipeg is concerned by the politicization of harm reduction in the City of Winnipeg, a life-saving public health approach that should never be reduced to talking points or selective statistics. Lives are at stake, and our shared focus must remain on protecting them.
Since 2022, Sunshine House’s Mobile Overdose Prevention Site (MOPS) has been a cornerstone of community safety, Manitoba’s first sanctioned supervised consumption site, and a critical link to treatment, recovery, and other supports. Even after the loss of its original vehicle in July, MOPS continued operating without interruption, quickly adapting to the crisis and offering supervised inhalation services in over 95% of visits, along with naloxone kits, safer use education, and other essential supports.
In July 2025, MOPS staff responded to 27 overdoses, a 286% increase from the same month last year, often providing life-saving intervention especially in neighbouring community spaces away from the MOPS site. These are not numbers to be weaponized. They are lives saved, families kept whole, and opportunities for recovery preserved.
The people served by MOPS often face intersectional stigma, discrimination and structural marginalization. These are multiple, overlapping judgments about their identity, health, and circumstances that deepen their marginalization and limit access to care. Harm reduction counters this by meeting people where they are, offering safety, dignity, and connection, and creating pathways to stability and recovery.
Our community’s response to substance use must be rooted in dignity, safety, and care. The dedicated direct service staff working in harm reduction across our province demonstrate these values daily. They are trained in overdose recognition and response, trauma-informed care, and cultural safety. Their work is not only professional, it is life-saving. These are the people who stand between crisis and recovery, often at great personal risk, because they believe every life is worth protecting. They should not be the target of unfounded attacks or mischaracterizations that diminish their skill, dedication, and the critical role they play in keeping our communities safe.
Harm reduction works. It is about dignity, compassion, and connection. It is also evidence-based as it reduces the spread of infections, prevents severe health complications, and creates pathways to stability. Sunshine House’s work, including its Bimosedaa program for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, is a model of what happens when we meet people where they are and walk alongside them toward wellness.
We, therefore, urge federal decision-makers to grant the exemption needed for Sunshine House to operate a new supervised consumption vehicle. And we call on our community to walk together in unity, rejecting narratives that shame or divide. The safety, dignity, and future of our relatives and neighbours must rise above partisanship. In a city as compassionate as ours, protecting life should not just be a policy choice, it has to be our shared duty.