Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Nicholas Milliken voiced a clear message to the Mayor of the City of Edmonton in the Legislature on Wednesday: “Get to work with the rest of us.”.Alberta's government announced Tuesday the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force, which will address social issues through an immediately coordinated response between the province, city, and local partners..Addiction, homelessness and public safety issues have affected every community in Alberta, with Edmonton being especially hard hit as residents outcried on social media for leaders to address these issues..“Mr. Speaker, we have brought together key cabinet ministers, emergency responders, first responders and city officials, indigenous leaders to quickly implement over $63 million worth of initiatives in Edmonton,” Milliken said..The task force will build on the province’s recovery-oriented system of addiction and mental health care. The task force will implement a series of initiatives in the Edmonton metropolitan region as part of a $187-million commitment to address addiction and homelessness in Alberta’s urban centres..However, City of Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi was not added to the task force. Residents on social media have been critical of the mayor over the disarray of the public transit system and how the city council let it slip into apparent chaos and public disorder as drug users and homeless people have taken over the system..In April, a motion to decriminalize "simple personal possession" of illegal drugs in the Alberta capital was approved 11-2 by city councillors..Sohi voted for the motion. He called decriminalization an "additional tool" to help people suffering from addictions by reducing the stigma and fear they face.."These are loved ones. These are people who have families. These are people who are Edmontonians like everyone else," Sohi said in April.."They deserve dignity, they deserve to live and they deserve the support from the community, but unfortunately that support is lacking because we don't have all the tools.".“Our task force does include to Edmonton city councilors. We have also invited the city managers and the Edmonton Fire Chief, I would ask Mayor Sohi and the rest of the of the individuals on that side of the house, stop playing politics and get to work with the rest of us,” Milliken said during question period..“On this side of the house we have been actively working with regards to the general mental health of individuals in Alberta. Our government was elected to increase access for Albertans. Every Albertan has the opportunity to pursue recovery from their mental health challenges. That's why we've invested over $15 million for mental health and addiction in response to the pandemic including $25 million for community based organizations.”.This money is on top of the billion dollars that the province of Alberta spends every year on mental health and addiction care and services. .“We are committed to supporting Albertans in their active recovery and moving forward with treatment,” Milliken said..“It was the NDP who left beds unfunded. What happened from that? By leaving treatment beds unfunded, the NDP forced a backup into detox, into shelters, thereby onto the streets and into tents. Essentially, the policies of the NDP with regard to this file leave communities in crisis. We’ve seen it in L.A., we see it in the downtown east side of Vancouver, we’ve seen it across the west coast.”.“Open-air drug use will not be tolerated. It just cannot be tolerated,” Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis said..“If crimes are being committed, yes, these people do need to be arrested. Having an addiction doesn’t absolve you.”.The initiatives the task force announced on Tuesday is responsible for implementing will help provide more life-saving services to Edmontonians struggling with addiction and homelessness while enhancing public safety within the city..The province is expected to make the a similar announcement to help with social disorder in Calgary on Friday.
