Alberta man asks province’s top court to fast-track appeal of drug-use site closure after overdose

An Alberta man, whose legal case against the government’s closure of the Red Deer supervised drug-use site was dismissed, is asking the province’s highest court to fast-track his appeal after he suffered a near-fatal overdose. Aaron Brown, 41, recently recovered from an overdose, which led to seizures, after spending weeks at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. His lawyer Avnish Nanda said Mr. Brown was discharged last month but his life is still at risk without access to a drug-use site, where people can consume substances under medical supervision. In a letter sent to the Alberta Court of Appeal on Monday, Mr. Nanda argued Mr. Brown’s case should be expedited on the grounds that a ruling will have “immediate precedential value” and could limit the risk of severe harm to his client and others.“Not only will the Appellant benefit from an expedited appeal, but so will the approximately 600 patients who accessed supervised consumption services in Red Deer and the thousands of others who do so in other parts of Alberta,” wrote Mr. Nanda.“The Respondents will also benefit from an expedited hearing, as it will provide legal certainty to their actions,” especially as Alberta “expands its efforts to suspend access to supervised consumption services in the province.” Deaths from opioid overdoses fell last year, but worsened in some provincesThe province has significantly reduced access to the harm reduction service as it pursues a recovery-focused system of care. One of Edmonton’s three sites, at the downtown Royal Alexandra Hospital, was closed just last month and more closures are on the horizon, including in Calgary and Lethbridge.Alberta and other provinces that have shuttered drug-use sites have defended the closures as a way to address public safety concerns and focus on treatment over harm reduction. Advocates for the service have argued that it is a critical resource to address the drug toxicity crisis, which killed more than 1,000 people in Alberta alone last year. Nathaniel Dueck, press secretary to Rick Wilson, Alberta Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, declined to comment on the matter as it is before the courts.Mr. Brown sued the government in November, 2024, alleging that the Red Deer site closure violated his Charter-protected rights under sections 7 (life, liberty and security of the person), 12 (cruel and unusual treatment or punishment) and 15 (equality rights). He won a brief injunction to keep the site open 24-7 between January and March, 2025, but a different judge then decided against extending the injunction.His case was dismissed by Court of King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth last August, who concluded Mr. Brown was unable to prove that his rights had been violated. She said the government did not have a constitutional obligation to fund specific health services and that alternative resources were available to him.Canada needs to tackle escalating opioid use among young people, doctors sayMr. Nanda alleges that Judge Yungwirth made a series of legal errors in her judgment that depart from existing Charter jurisprudence. As an example, he cited her interpretation that there is no Charter right to continue to access medical services since there is no underlying, freestanding constitutional right to health care. “The Chambers Justice’s reasons represent a significant departure from existing Charter jurisprudence on the scope and frameworks for deciding claims made pursuant to sections 7, 12, and 15 of the Charter,” wrote Mr. Nanda in his letter.“It challenges settled law and plunges established precedent into uncertainty, particularly in relation to the Charter right to continue to access essential medical services.”Mr. Brown used the Red Deer drug-use site since it opened in 2018 until its closure. He said staff at the site had provided him with life-saving support and helped him decrease the frequency of his drug use. He also received help from workers to secure permanent housing and other social supports. In his affidavit, Mr. Brown said the site’s closure was essentially a “death sentence” for him and others.When the Red Deer site closed, the province said a team of paramedics and nurses will monitor for overdoses near the former site’s location and that recovery coaches will do outreach in the area. Mr. Dueck, on Monday, said these supports are still in place.Sign up for our Morning Update newsletter.Start your day with context and insight on the biggest stories shaping our lives, written by Danielle GroenExplore newsletters