Canada safe sites: N.B. premier pledges to halt approval of more sites [Video]

The head of New Brunswick’s only safe injection site said she’s very concerned after Premier Blaine Higgs pledged to not approve any more safe injection sites and to consult with communities about existing sites, if re-elected.

“I’m gobsmacked,” said Debby Warren, the executive director of Ensemble Greater Moncton, the province’s only site — noting it has health-care workers onsite to help if there’s an overdose and to connect clients with other services.

While Higgs did not promise to close Ensemble Greater Moncton, Warren fears what would happen if it was forced to shut.

“More people will die,” Warren said. “If it’s closed, we just exacerbate it now that more people will be on the street. At least while we’re open many individuals are at our place inside. But when you close us, where do they go?”

With a provincial election guaranteed in New Brunswick this fall, election pledges are beginning …