The Nova Scotia government says it will help a closed addictions treatment centre in Cape Breton make a bid to re-open.
Today’s announcement on the future of Talbot House came shortly after protesters picketed the offices of two NDP MLAs, including that of House Speaker Gordie Gosse.
Several of the protesters who appeared on Gosse’s doorstep Monday morning have firsthand knowledge of the role Talbot House played in helping addicts, before it closed suddenly in March.
“Talbot House not only saved my life, it gave me life,” says former resident Brian Miles. “A life I never knew was possible.”
Miles says he left behind a life of drugs and crime after being treated at the centre.
“I was addicted to a lot of different drugs. It completely controlled my life,” he says. “I was a slave to my addiction before coming there.”
As protesters marched to the office of Deputy Premier Frank Corbett, there were new developments being made in the case, which included a personal intervention by Premier Darrell Dexter.
Dexter spoke with Bishop Brian Dunn of the Diocese of Antigonish, which owns Talbot House, as well as the head of the centre’s board.
“What we want to do is find a way to resolve what seems to be an impasse with respect to Talbot House and its ability to continue to deliver addictions services in Cape Breton,” Dexter tells CTV News. “We hope to have found that.”
The government previously issued a request for proposals to organizations interested in offering addictions services in Cape Breton but the board of directors at Talbot House said they would not submit a proposal because the Aug. 28 deadline was unrealistic.
The province announced today it has extended the deadline for such a proposal, allowing the centre more time to make an application. It has also appointed addictions expert Wayne Yorke to help Talbot House prepare a bid to re-open.
However, Talbot House would still have to compete for funding before it could resume services it has offered recovering male addicts for more than half a century.
“You heard that gentleman…saying how it saved his life, and many other people’s lives in the history of that facility,” says Gosse. “I think there is still time to work things out.”
Brooke Armstrong, a spokeswoman for the Premier's Office, says a new deadline hasn't yet been set and she was unsure how many proposals the government had already received.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Randy MacDonald and The Canadian Press
