Background: The Boyle Street Community Services supervised consumption site in Edmonton was closed by the Government of Alberta on April 30, 2021. The site opened in 2018 as one of three community sites in a distributed model. In addition to saving lives and was reported to have a positive impact on the neighbourhood, including a reduction of crime.

Note: A copy of this letter has been sent to premier Jason Kenney and the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jason Luan.

Dear former SCS staff,

On behalf of Moms Stop The Harm, I want to reach out to you to thank you for your tireless work to support and save the lives of the people we love.

I have met some of you in person, know others by name, and some I never met, but I have always heard wonderful things about all of you from people you served and from your peers in the field.

To describe the supervised consumption site you operated, the words that come to mind are love, compassion, respect and support. I saw that displayed consistently in your words and actions.

We are heartbroken and in shock over the closure of your vital life-saving service and can't understand how all the evidence that supports the essential role of harm reduction and SCS can so blatantly be ignored. This closure will reduce the number of available booths in Edmonton by 35% and send some of the most marginalized citizens to a provider they are unfamiliar with. Most likely, many will just resort to using alone, which leaves them at a high risk of overdose.

We know you saved hundreds of lives, have connected hundreds with services, have kept hundreds healthy and have made hundreds feel like people worthy of living. In words your former manager Erica, shared via Twitter last week:

"This is not only the loss of another entry point of a life-saving service but the loss of a connecting point to health and social services, mental health services, access to housing and basic needs."

That all this is gone is most devastating for the people you served, who once again feel let down by a system that has failed them before, and I know it must also be devastating for you.

I want you to know that your work was noticed and we will not forget what you did. You will always be in our hearts, and we will prevail. Harm reduction will once again thrive in Alberta when this deep dark period comes to an end.

Meanwhile, there are no words to express the sorrow we feel over the lives that will be lost, and for the pain, the people you served and you have to endure, but I want you to know, you are loved, and we will continue to fight for the people you helped.

With appreciation,

Petra Schulz

Co-Founder and Board Vice-Chair on behalf of Moms Stop The Harm Alberta

Cc.: Premier Jason Kenney, Associate Minister Jason Luan, Federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu, Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer for Public Health Agency of Canada, and Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health.