Arvin White Cow is taking a break at one of the picnic tables in Galt park in downtown Lethbridge.
The area is busy with young families enjoying a nearby spray park, there are some people laying on the grass basking in the late summer sun. There are people sleeping under trees and some small groups are hunkered down with what looks like all of their belongings packed in shopping carts, baby strollers and overstuffed bags. There are also a number of people who appear to be intoxicated by either drugs or alcohol.
White Cow is recovering from a recent fall at a downtown construction site that left him with a broken foot. He says it’s been a difficult summer for him and others who are addicted to drugs and alcohol.
He’s worried about the impending closure of the city’s only brick-and-mortar supervised drug consumption site, run by the non-profit group ARCHES.
The site, the busiest in Canada, has been controversial since it opened in early 2018.
Downtown business owners are applauding the government’s decision to stop funding the facility, while public health experts and researchers predict more people will die if they can’t access a safe, medically supervised site to consume their drugs.
White Cow says he is an alcoholic and that he has never set foot in ARCHES, but he knows a lot of people who have and he fears for their safety once the site closes for good today.
“You have people out here who are dying, literally, they’re dying,” he said.
Arvin White Cow says he is worried people with addictions in Lethbridge won’t be able to get access to a safe drug consumption site following the closure of ARCHES on Aug. 31, 2020. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
White Cow says he knows of four people who have died of drug overdoses in the past month and he predicts the situation will become even more dire because the mobile consumption site that will replace ARCHES will not be able to meet the demand from people who need a supervised place to inject drugs, the majority of which include opioids such as fentanyl and heroin, but also crystal methamphetamine, a non-opioid stimulant.
ARCHES, which had 13 injections booths and two inhalation rooms, saw an average of about 500 visits per day. The new mobile truck will have two booths and an area to monitor people for signs of an overdose.
“Not everyone is going to go to that shelter and make it to that little trailer,” said White Cow, referring to Alberta Health Services’ new mobile service. Last week it was parked outside Alpha House, the city’s only homeless shelter.
An unidentified man sleeps in Galt park in downtown Lethbridge, Alta. The downtown business revitalization zone fears more people could use the park to consume drugs following the closure of ARCHES, the city’s supervised consumption site. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
The provincial government pulled funding for ARCHES after a financial audit found evidence of mismanagement and misuse of government funding. No one from ARCHES responded to multiple interview requests for this story.
The closure of the supervised injection site is being celebrated and criticized, exposing yet again the deep divisions that were created in Lethbridge when the site opened 2½ years ago.
‘A real risk that we’ll see more people die’
Public health experts who specialize in at-risk groups say the closure of the site doesn’t mean that people will stop using drugs, instead the behaviour will continue in an unsafe and potentially deadly way.
“There’s a real risk that we’ll see more people die,” said Elaine Hyshka, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta.
“That just really opens up the increased risk of them getting into trouble, potentially having an overdose and there not being anybody there to provide emergency medical care,” she said.
Elaine Hyshka is an assistant professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. She says there is a real risk that more people will die of drug overdoses because of the closure of a drug consumption site in Lethbridge, Alta. (University of Alberta)
Hyshka says along with a safe and supervised place to use drugs, people will lose access to a number of services that were provided by ARCHES, including treatments and medications for opioid addictions, counselling and peer support. The organization also ran a community needle pick-up service.
“We need more support, not less support in Lethbridge,” Hyshka said.
The province said the south health zone, which includes Lethbridge, had the highest per capita number of accidental drug poisoning deaths related to fentanyl during the first three months of 2020. The rate was 14.1 per 100,000 people. The rate in Calgary was 11.4.
Between January and March of this year, 142 people died from an apparent accidental opioid overdose in Alberta.
Alberta Health Services will operate this new mobile drug injection site in Lethbridge following the closure of ARCHES, the city’s only brick-and-mortar supervised consumption site on Aug. 31, 2020. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
Researchers and academics, including Hyshka, are calling on the province to release updated opioid statistics which could provide insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the overdose crisis.
B.C. and Ontario have reported a spike in overdose deaths during the pandemic, one of the factors is believed to be an increase in toxicity of street drugs. Hyshka says it’s very likely the same trend is happening across Alberta, including Lethbridge.
“We’re getting reports from across the country and epidemiology from across the country that show that deaths and EMS calls, ambulance calls for overdoses are up everywhere,” she said.
Hyshka is calling on the government to release updated overdose data to get a better idea of what’s happening. The most recent data released publicly in Alberta covered the first three months of 2020. B.C. just released statistics to the end of July.
“We really are operating in a total information vacuum.”
She credits the government for releasing a lot of data that covers ambulance calls, impacted neighbourhoods in Calgary and Edmonton, but the information needs to be released in a more timely manner.
A spokesperson for the associate minister of mental health and addiction expects the second quarter report sometime in September.
‘Unintended consequences’
Em Pijl is an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Health Sciences. She led a study exploring the perceptions and observations by business owners and managers of social disorder in downtown Lethbridge after ARCHES opened the facility in 2018.
“While the public in general understands the merits of harm reduction services, there remains the question of unintended consequences of these services,” read the report which was completed for Lethbridge city council in January.
The findings revealed a 100-metre zone around the consumption site had the sharpest increase in some antisocial behaviours and the sharpest increase in discarded needles. Increases in antisocial behaviours were also observed in the southwest downtown zone. Pijl notes that not all antisocial behaviours were associated with the supervised consumption site.
Pijl said the findings differ from previous studies which did not find any negative neighbourhood impacts caused by supervised consumption sites, but she cautions those studies involved consumption sites in much larger urban centres and suggested the smaller, “Lethbridge context” must be considered.
ARCHES opened Feb. 28, 2018, and quickly became the busiest supervised drug consumption site in Canada. A financial audit found mismanagement and misuse of government funding. The UCP government announced it would defund the facility effective Aug. 31, 2020. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
She says ARCHES enjoyed many successes, including reversing overdoses and connecting people with health and social support services, but there were drawbacks.
“When there is social disorder new to an area, some people aren’t going to like that,” she said.
“The question as a community is ‘are we okay with those drawbacks?’ And I think that’s where our city continually seems to be a sticking point.”
Pijl doesn’t think the mobile service will be able to meet the demand or the same level of service and she echoes the same dark prediction made by others.
“I think we’re going to see overdose deaths go up and I think we’re going to see a lot of people using in public. I don’t think that’s what Lethbridge wants,” she said.
Downtown business on edge
The long-serving executive director of the downtown Lethbridge business revitalization zone fears there could be more open, public drug use and a real or perceived impact on public safety once ARCHES closes.
Ted Stilson said a number of encampments have sprung up in Galt Gardens park where he says 10 to 12 people are now living. He says the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of a number of community events in the park and thus created an opportunity for some people to move in.
Stilson said it depends on how many people can be helped through the mobile consumption vehicle.
Ted Stilson is the executive director of the downtown Lethbridge business revitalization zone. He hopes the closure of the ARCHES supervised injection site will improve public safety in the downtown, however he also fears an increase in public drug use. (Bryan Labby/CBC)
His hope is that the city can get back to where it was before it became home to the country’s most used drug consumption site.
Stilson believes the consumption site attracted a number of people addicted to drugs — and dealers — to Lethbridge and many downtown business owners continue to deal with the fallout.
“I don’t think we ever wanted the supervised consumption site,” he said.
Stilson says in hindsight he wishes the community would have fought harder to oppose it because the Lethbridge wasn’t able to provide other services for people with addictions, including treatment and supportive housing.
He says the site has been devastating for many downtown business owners who’ve been dealing with panhandling, loitering, shoplifting, needle use and the proliferation of drug paraphernalia.
Bracing for fallout
One of the organizations that helps vulnerable people in the community is the Diversion Outreach Team, which is run by the Canadian Mental Health Association. DOT, as it’s known, is preparing for the transition to a mobile consumption site but the impact is already being noticed. There have been more calls about needle debris and people loitering at school sites.
There’s a call for social agencies in Lethbridge to work together to help people who will be impacted by the demise of ARCHES.
“I think for the individuals going through it, it’s going to be scary, it’s going to be nerve-wracking,” said David Gabert.
“Our community really needs to have a good sense of empathy towards them and towards each other as we all go through this.” he said.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Victor Hedman as the team captain on Wednesday as training camp opened, making the big defenseman the successor to Steven Stamkos.
Hedman, who is going into his 16th season with Tampa Bay, was considered the obvious choice to get the “C” after the Lightning did not re-sign Stamkos and their longtime captain left to join Nashville.
“Victor is a cornerstone player that is extremely well respected by his teammates, coaches and peers across the NHL,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Over the past 15 seasons, he has been a world-class representative for our organization both on and off the ice. Victor embodies what it means to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and is more than ready for this exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to watching him flourish in his new role as we continue to work towards our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
The 33-year-old from Sweden was a key contributor in the Lightning hoisting the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21, including playoff MVP honors on the first of those championship runs. Hedman also took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2018 and finished in the top three in voting five other seasons.
Ryan McDonagh, who was reacquired early in the offseason in a trade with the Predators, and MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov will serve as alternate captains with the Lightning moving on to the post-Stamkos era.
TORONTO – While Toronto FC is looking to improve its position on the pitch, general manager Jason Hernandez is trying to do the same off it.
That has been easier said than done this season.
Sending winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to CF Montreal for up to $1.3 million (all dollar figures in U.S. funds) in general allocation money before the secondary transfer window closed in early August helped set the stage for future moves.
But there have been plenty of obstacles, which Hernandez has been working to clear.
“We feel a lot more confident going into this upcoming off-season that we did the one prior,” said Hernandez. “There’s a level of what I would say booby-traps that were uncovered when I first got the (GM) role at the end of last summer.”
The club is paying off departed forwards Adam Diomande and Ayo Akinola as well as a $500,000 payment due in 2024 to Belgium’s Anderlecht for Jamaican international defender Kemar Lawrence. That payment was part of the transfer fee for Lawrence, who joined TFC from Anderlecht in May 2021 and was traded to Minnesota United in March 2022.
Diomande was waived while Akinola’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
“That comes to an end in ’25, which is nice,” said Hernandez. “We had to suffer from a salary cap perspective this season. But those things coming off, the Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty money coming in, we’re going to be in a position to make some good additions, which is positive.”
While MLS clubs are allowed one contract buyout per year, Toronto had already used its on former captain Michel Bradley, who retired after last season. Bradley had previously restructured his contract, deferring money.
TFC’s only other move during the summer transfer window was the signing of free-agent defender Henry Wingo. Hernandez said the club knew going into the window that it was likely limited to the one acquisition “unless other business happened”
“We knew we had this bucket of money and we knew we were going to go get Henry,” said Hernandez.
While the sale of the highly touted Marshall-Rutty opened up other possibilities, it came on the eve of the transfer window closing. And the team did not like what it saw in the free-agent market.
“A lot of the opportunities we were presented in the free agency space felt more like a short-term, Band-Aid decision versus what actually the club probably needs.”
Hernandez was not willing to take in players who came with a “club-friendly” salary cap charge in 2024 and a much bigger number in 2025.
Instead, Toronto promoted forward Charlie Sharp and wingback Nate Edwards to the first team from TFC 2 ahead of last Friday’s roster freeze.
MLS teams are operating on a salary budget of $5.47 million this season, which covers up to 20 players on the senior roster (clubs can elect to spread that number across 18 players). But the league has several mechanisms that allow those funds to go further, including using allocation money (both general and targeted) to buy down salaries.
Designated players only count $683,750 — the maximum salary charge — against the cap no matter their actual pay. Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne is actually earning $15.4 million with fellow Italian Federico Bernardeschi collecting $6.295 million and Canadian Richie Laryea $1.208 million.
Hernandez says Laryea’s contract can — and “very likely” will — be restructured so as to remove the designated player status.
There are benefits in going with just two designated players rather than three.
Teams that elect to go with two DPs can sign up to four players as part of the league’s “U22 Initiative.” The pluses of that structure include a reduced salary cap charge for the young players and up to an extra $2 million in general allocation money.
Hernandez says the club is currently pondering whether that is the way to go.
Captain Jonathan Osorio who is earning $836,370 this season, restructured his deal to allow the team to sign Laryea as a DP. In doing so, Osorio had his option year guaranteed so his contact runs through 2026.
Hernandez and coach John Herdman will have decisions to make come the end of the year.
The contracts of goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh ($94,200), defenders Kevin Long ($277,500), Shane O’Neill ($413,000) and Kobe Franklin ($100,520), midfielder Alonso Coello ($94,050) and Brandon Servania ($602,710), and forward Prince Owusu ($807,500) — all on the club’s senior roster — expire at the end of 2024 with club options to follow.
While there is more work to do, Hernandez believes TFC is on the right road.
Toronto, which finished last in the league at 4-20-10 in 2023, went into Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus in a playoff position at eighth in the East at 11-15-3.
“By every metric, we are miles ahead of where we were at this point last year,” said Hernandez.
“That’s a low bar, so that’s not saying much,” he added.
But he believes TFC is “quite competitive” when it has all its players at its disposal.
“To get results in this final stretch, we’re going to need our prominent players to really show up and have big performances, and be supported by the rest of the cast.”
After Columbus, TFC plays at Colorado and Chicago and hosts the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami. The club also travels to Vancouver for the Canadian Championship final.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
Mackenzie Hughes might just be what the International team needs as this year’s Presidents Cup.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., is one of three Canadians on the squad competing in the match-play event at Royal Montreal Golf Club next week.
His putting skills, cool demeanour under pressure, pre-existing connections with teammates and clubhouse leadership could help the team — made up of non-American players outside Europe — end a nine-tournament losing skid to the United States at the biennial event.
“I’ve had this one circled on the calendar for a few years now,” said Hughes on joining fellow Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners as captain’s picks on the 12-player International team. “I pretty much knew that when it was announced the tournament would be in Canada and that Mike Weir was going to be the captain, you pretty much knew where that was going to go.
“To get that call from (Weir) is really special because he’s the guy that I looked up to, we all looked up to, as Canadian golfers.”
Pendrith and Conners are returning to the team after a disappointing 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 loss to the United States at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. in 2022.
Hughes was ranked 14th on the International team standings in 2022 and could have easily been included on that squad after Australia’s Cameron Smith and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann were ruled ineligible after jumping ship to the rival LIV Golf circuit.
However, captain Trevor Immelman of South Africa instead chose the lower ranked Christiaan Bezuidenhout (16th) of South Africa, Pendrith (18th), South Korea’s Kim Si-woo (20th) and Australia’s Cameron Davis (25th).
“I certainly wanted to be on that team but also I understood the picks,” said Hughes, who lives in Charlotte and plays at Quail Hollow regularly. “I think that like a lot of guys that don’t get picked you more so look back on your own play and I wish I had made that selection easier for them.
“I didn’t do myself any favours in the six weeks leading up to it and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
It may have been a costly oversight on Immelman’s part, as finishing holes was an issue for the International team in 2022 and Hughes is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. This season he’s third in shots gained around the green and fifth in shots gained from putting.
“It doesn’t mean that just because I was there it would have turned the tide, but I’d like to think maybe I could have helped,” said Hughes. “That’s why you play the matches. You have to get out there and do it.”
This year Hughes made it easier for Weir, the Canadian golf legend from Brights Grove, Ont., to choose him. Hughes is 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and has made the cut seven tournaments in a row, including a tie for fourth at last week’s Procore Championship.
“Mac played very solidly all year. Really like his short game, an all-around short game,” said Weir on Sept. 3 after announcing his captain’s picks. “He’s one of the elite and best short game guys on the PGA Tour
“I also love Mac’s grit. So that was the reason I picked him.”
Hughes’s intangible qualities go beyond grit.
He, Pendrith and Conners will arrive at Royal Montreal as a unit within the International squad, having become close friends while playing on Kent State University’s men’s golf team before turning pro. They’re also part of a group of Canadians, including Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., that regularly practice together before PGA Tour events.
“To have those guys with me is really icing on the cake, it’s very special,” said Hughes. “Opportunities like this don’t come around very often: to play this kind of team competition, which is already hard to do, but to play with some of your best friends, it almost seems scripted.”
An 11-year professional, Hughes has also been a member of the PGA Tour’s player advisory council the past two years and has been an outspoken advocate for making professional golf more accessible to fans.
Although Weir relied heavily on analytics to make his captain’s selections, Hughes’s character came up again and again when asked why he was named to the team.
“I just have a gut feeling with Mac that he has what it takes in these big moments,” said Weir. “They’re big pressure moments, and I have a feeling he’s going to do great in those moments.”
DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., continues his chase for a spot in the Europe-based DP World Tour’s playoffs. The top 50 players on the Race to Dubai standings make the DP World Tour Championship and Cockerill moved eight spots up to 39th in the rankings after tying for ninth at last week’s Irish Open. He’ll be back at it on Thursday at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England.
KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is ranked 38th on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. He leads the Canadian contingent into this week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He’ll be joined at Ohio State University Golf Club — Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio by Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (53rd), Etienne Papineau (65th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju (99th) of Mississauga, Ont.
CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian at this week’s Pure Insurance Championship. He’s No. 2 on the senior circuit’s points list. The event will start Friday and be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Monterey, Calif.
LPGA TOUR — There are four Canadians in this week’s Kroger City Championship. Savannah Grewal (97th in the Race to CME Globe Rankings) of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (115th), and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (142nd) of Sherbrooke, Que., will all tee it up at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
EPSON TOUR — Vancouver’s Leah John is the low Canadian heading into the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. She’s 54th in the second-tier tour’s points list. She’ll be joined by Maddie Szeryk (118th) of London, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault (119th) of Rosemere, Que., at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
