The treatment centre that grief built, part 2
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How did the internet go from this... You could actually find what you were looking for right away, buying... To this... I feel like I'm in hell.

Spoiler alert, it was not an accident. I'm Cory Doctorow, host of Who Broke the Internet from CBC's Understood. In this four-part series, I'm going to tell you why the internet sucks now, whose fault it is, and my plan to fix it. Find Who Broke the Internet on whatever terrible app you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. I'm Dr. Brian Goldman. This is White Coat Blackheart.

In a seemingly never-ending opioid crisis that claims around 21 lives a day in Canada, it can be hard to find uplifting stories. Well, the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre in Winnipeg has 440 of them and counting.

That's the tally of men who thus far have been through the centre's treatment program and entered recovery from alcohol and drug use. Am I prolonging the tour? No, no. Because I've got lots of questions? Bruce Oak, as they call this place, is named after the son of sports broadcaster Scott Oak and his late wife Anne. Bruce died of an overdose in 2011 at the age of 25. We're in the entryway and the first thing you see when you come in is Bruce's urn. So this is his final resting place.

Last week, Scott talked about his son and what it took for he and Anne to open this place, a special niche where Bruce himself might have made the journey to recovery had he lived long enough to come here. You certainly know the difference between people who bring lived experience to the role and people who don't, don't you? Well, absolutely, because of Bruce's history. First place he went to was a private treatment centre just outside of Toronto. A lot of people with masters of whatever...

No disrespect to them, but Bruce could get over on them very quickly. When he went to Simon House just out in Calgary, in the Bowness region of Calgary, a place was staffed by those in recovery. And basically the first thing they said to him was, we got your bullshit. And he had the best year of his addicted life there. Stayed for 11 months, in fact. And we've always believed that if he had stayed longer, he'd probably still be alive.

So it was key for us to have a program where people who had, you know, walked the walk were employed. This week, recovery through the eyes and ears of two people who both work here and have that lived experience that Scott says is built into the place. Hello, my name is Greg Kylo. I'm the executive director here at the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre.

How many of the people who work here are like you in recovery? Probably 95% are in recovery themselves. That's a deliberate choice. That is very much a deliberate choice because we have the evidence of its effectiveness. We call lived experience lived expertise. It's a credential. And I mean, we know the evidence-based practice of peer support. When you have that shared experience, you have an ability to connect people

We're social workers, masters trained social workers, but it's really led and sort of co-designed and co-produced with the individual. So they are, and we really believe we use a strengths-based approach and we really believe that, you know, meeting them where they're at and helping them to build that path forward is

helps direct us in terms of what to focus on and also how to support them with the right treatment. As well as we work with the Winnipeg community, so primary care, secondary, tertiary care. Even while someone's in treatment, you can be getting and working with other practitioners and supports across all the social determinants of health. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. You started to talk about the results. What kinds of results have you been seeing here?

Well, it's been great to actually take a step back and say, you know, what is success? Success looks like getting long-term stable housing and getting employment or getting back into school. You know, what percentage of our participants get reunified with their family, get their children back. So that's what we're measuring and focusing on now. And the program doesn't demand total abstinence.

We really do our best to focus on what is going to most help the individuals to achieve their goals. You know, that for some people,

not using substances may be needed for them to achieve their goals. And that may be one of their goals. But if that's not the case, we would support that. You know, it is clear that for people to achieve their goals that they've set out, if you have, you know, gotten to a place where you have moderate to severe substance use disorder, a period of abstinence is often required to be able to achieve some of the goals that people are coming here looking for.

So abstinence if necessary, but not necessarily abstinence. Greg says they don't kick people out of the program each time a participant uses, provided the program is helping them. Despite my insistence, Greg seems reluctant to define success here, let alone provide statistics on the success rate here compared to other recovery programs.

It's often hard to find facilities that actually measure and report on it. And I think it is a challenge, right? We're not paid to track and support people beyond the days that they're here. And so that ongoing connection and community that's built here, it's just natural that we're actively, when someone's done their 16-week program, they're still connected and engaged here through our outreach coordinator and the Alumni Association. So I think that continued connection is,

allows us to measure and know those outcomes because often it's hard to evaluate that especially when you're losing contact with folks. So our model is set up for us to be able to maintain that contact and be able to measure that and I think a lot of other facilities don't have that capability. Connection is key. Connection to one another, to the land, to the community and to traditions.

Greg takes me to a meeting room with floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the light. On the other side of the far window is a sweat lodge built especially for participants.

It's become a core part of the program and not just for Indigenous men. 53% of our participants are First Nation, Métis and Inuit. So our community is very much asking for and wanting to be able to get the types of supports that come from their culture. And so we're able to respond and not only by having staff and participants,

professionals that are indigenous but also having that type of programming available and integrated right into our sort of western based clinical therapies so we really treat them as equal and allow for individuals to kind of direct towards what's going to be the majority of their programming we have weekly sweats and our our

Indigenous staff and our elders support and run all of our cultural programming that's available to all participants. And that cultural reclamation for many is a key part of treatment and their healing and

And so we really feel like, you know, Truth and Reconciliation is certainly happening here every day. And having the cultural programming be part of the healing journey for many participants is, I think, really fundamental to our success rates and our ability to help individuals achieve long-term recovery. I'm assuming that non-Indigenous men who want to participate

participate in a sweat lodge can do so. That lodge holds up to 28 and usually half are non-Indigenous. And that was certainly my lived experience as well, 18 years ago when I started my own recovery journey in downtown Toronto. I went to an Indigenous support group and certainly those cultural practices really resonated for me personally and was really fundamental to me finding connection,

hope, belonging and purpose in my early recovery journey. Cultural practices from indigenous backgrounds was key to that for me. Greg is not indigenous, but notice how he mentions how important cultural practices were and are to his own recovery journey. There's that lived experience again.

And you're 18 years into recovery. Yes, 18 years. And, you know, one day at a time, as we say, I actively take care of myself and my well-being. When individuals see us, we can often be saying these things, but if we're not doing them ourselves and we're also in recovery, it's not as effective.

But when they see us leading by example and being able to practice what we preach, so to speak, it builds community and it supports the behavior change that's required in early recovery. Okay, so we'll head upstairs now to the culture and meditation room. So come on in.

You can see the medicine wheel on the roof, which is one of the teaching tools that's used by our team. You can see the medicines that have been picked as part of land-based teachings and activities that groups will go out on the land and learn about and really

those wise practices. One of the calls to action from Truth and Reconciliation is to close the gap between health outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. And the long-term recovery outcomes are within one percentage point.

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants here and so you have the same likelihood of achieving long-term recovery regardless of your background here at Bruce Oak and so that gap has been closed here and we really believe that's from the cultural-led programming and interventions that happen here alongside the other interventions. The culture and meditation room is for the spirit. The next room Greg takes me to is for the physical body.

For this part of the tour, Scott Oak joins us. The weight room or physical fitness area, the other is just outside. But this is a very popular part of the Bruce Oak Recovery Center, especially for guys just coming in because they want to recapture their health. And a lot of guys have had some experience with working out, so they generally...

gravitate to this room. Guys will come in and one of their goals is to get back in physical shape. I just was talking to someone coming in today who's like, you know, I've got this extra 30 pounds and my goal during treatment here is to be in the gym often and to get back to that physical fitness level that I had before I

started using substances in an unhealthy way and the science shows us that when you start to feel better physically that has an impact on your mental health on your recovery outcomes and while they're here because they're here for four months you can see dramatic physical changes in people from when they first come in to when they're standing on that stage 16 weeks later it's incredible to see the physical transformation

Scott loves the weight room because it's good for him and because it's where he gets to meet the men, including one special guy named Terrence Morin, who has had quite the journey to recovery. A lot of those guys have been on the street or whatever for a long time, and they're not watching Hockey Night in Canada or whatever other sporting event I might be on, so I don't expect that everybody should know me. And I don't go around broadcasting who I am. My general reaction when people say, how long have you been in here? And I hear that a lot, right? They think I'm a participant. I just say, oh, I'm

I'm not really here. I just like to come and meet the guys. I don't even tell them my name and that's fine. Terrence was a particular case though, because he came into the weight room and he was standing there with shifty eyes, looking around, not quite sure what's going on. Do I even want to be here? That's the impression he evoked. And so I went up to him and introduced myself. I said, I'm Scott. He gave me his name. I said, where are you coming from? He said, Headingley. So I know it's the Headingley Correctional Institute.

What were you in for? I said, and he started listing his rap sheet and he got about halfway through it. And I said, that's enough. I get it. I get it. It took him a little while to start feeling comfortable here, but my God, he is the poster boy for success. Bruce Oak. Terrence went back to school and graduated, first of all, from the 16 week in residence program. Went back to school, got his GED.

went to Yellow Cool College and got his counselling certification. He's going to start a bachelor's program soon. And he loves this place. And he's fond of saying he used to be a gangster. And he was very much into the gang life. But now he says he's a spiritual gangster. I love that. He is such an inspiration to people around here. It's amazing. I love Terrence. The beautiful thing about our counsellors and...

The staff in general being in recovery here is that they will never ask anyone to do anything in pursuit of sobriety and recovery that they have not done themselves. And Terrence will be able to do that ten times over. As we're about to find out, Terrence Morin has one heck of a story to tell. We'll be right back.

I'm Sarah Trelevan, and for over a year, I've been working on one of the most complex stories I've ever covered. There was somebody out there who was faking pregnancies. I started, like, warning everybody. Every doula that I know. It was fake. No pregnancy. And the deeper I dig, the more questions I unearth. How long has she been doing this? What does she have to gain from this? From CBC and the BBC World Service, The Con, Caitlin's Baby. It's a long story. Settle in. Available now.

You're listening to White Coat Black Art. This week, what recovery looks and feels like at the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre in Winnipeg. Most of the people who counsel and support the men who enter the recovery program have been in their shoes. If you want proof that the concept works, look no further than the guy whose story we're about to tell and the accidental way he met Scott Oak when he first became a participant at the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre.

We watched a lot of hockey in prison and jail, right? It's a big thing. We have hockey pools. So it's like, I know I've seen this guy somewhere. It just slipped my mind, right? It's like, he's getting his pump on, man. And I was like, I know he's an older fella, man. And he's getting his pump on. I'm like, yo, this guy's pretty solid.

He kind of asked me, like, oh, how you doing? I'm like, yeah, I thought he was just a regular guy here, just still in program. And then, like, the next day, I'm like, yo, who is that guy? Because he's always talking to everybody. I'm like, he's having lunch with everybody. I'm like, who is this guy, man? And then they're like, that's Scott Oak. I'm like, Scott Oak. I'm like, oh, shoot, man. Hi, my name is Terrence Morin. I'm in recovery, and I was in recovery at the Bruce Oak Recovery Center for Men. And I'm just now I'm a staff member.

I'm the culture support worker. And yeah, I'm just honored to be part of this organization and all the help that it's given me and the tools and just by being here and, you know, supporting the men that were once in my...

Before Terrence Morin could even think about getting it back, he had lived a very different sort of life and had that long rap sheet he shared with Scott Oak shortly after Terrence arrived at Bruce Oak.

Tell me about the time that you, the first time that you walked through the doors of this place back in March of 2022. Three years ago. Honestly, man, this is like the longest I've ever been out of jail or prison since I was 18. This is a world record for me. And coming in through the doors, everybody was greeting me with open arms. They shake my hand, trying to hug me. I'm like coming from a cell bound place to an open bound place where it's like nothing but love.

kindness, empathy, compassion for one's recovery, for one's health. Why were you incarcerated? What connection did it have to your drug use? Well, the majority of my incarceration stints was due to addiction, right? I was an addict. I'd steal and commit crimes to get my addiction or at times I was selling drugs for my addiction, right? What did you use? I used meth, I used fentanyl, I used heroin. So how did you hear about the centre?

I actually grew up in this neighborhood, so I would come. There used to be a donation bin right in front of the curling center where people would donate clothes and stuff. And I would come and dig around in there. And I seen the construction. I'm like, I wonder what's being built here because there used to be an arena here. I used to live just over here. I remember there used to be an arena there and I used to go sliding behind there too, right? There's a hill there. I used to go snow skating, sliding. I grew up here when I was in teenage years kind of years.

and then uh i didn't have any thought of it i was like oh it's just a construction site maybe a new building or something you know a condo building or something so i sat i was sitting in jail one night watching the news and then uh

I seen Scott Oak on there and they're doing like a groundbreaking opening or something ceremony like I still didn't think of it a year passed by and it came on again open one year and by then I was kind of thinking about it and thinking maybe I need help right said hey man I think that's like almost like it was like speaking to me because I was contemplating should I get treatment or should I get out and try to do it like how I like I I think I used to be able to do but it never worked out it always had trouble right you detoxed before

Yeah, I detoxed. I did it the old-fashioned hard way, cold turkey. I got arrested, and I detoxed right on that cell floor. And I didn't have no Suboxone, no methadone, no nothing. And I'm telling you, man, as I'm laying there on the cell, I had an epiphany. Is this what I want to do all the time? I've been doing this most of my life. Because I lost my mom to an overdose, so that opened my eyes up too, right? I don't want to be a nobody. I want to be something, right? Something that I can be proud of for my kids, for myself.

and just for the community. What was different about the program here? So I've been to many other treatment centers in my time. I've been to a treatment center in Ontario. I've been to a treatment center in Winnipeg. There's two other treatment centers that I've been to, and they weren't nothing like this, right? It was a totally different approach.

What was different about it? Man, the camaraderie, man, you know what I mean? I just felt welcome, accepted, and not judged for my past or who I am or even my tattoos, right? I just felt like a regular guy just trying to sober up with a bunch of other regular guys that have one thing in common, addiction. I come from a long line of gang culture, that brotherhood, right? But this one's more...

A positive brotherhood. Different kind of brotherhood. So it's like, you know, they wouldn't say, hey, let's go do a B&E, let's go sell some drugs, let's go steal a car. They'd be like, let's go to AA, let's go to NA, let's go to, you know, self-help groups, let's go to ceremony. And I'm like, yo, I'm down with that. Let's go. Which ceremony? I go to various ones. There's like sun dances, sweat loss ceremonies, Ogichita ceremonies. I'm a traditional powwow dancer. And it's just like, that plays a big part.

in my healing journey today. I'm more connected with my culture thanks to this program. You're indigenous. Are you First Nations or Métis? I'm First Nations, so I'm Cree. I'm from the Thais Cologne Cree Nation, also known as Puketewagan, and yeah, I'm Cree. You got your spirit name here? Yeah, I got a warrior name and I got my spirit name. So my spirit name is Negani Maigan, which means leading wolf, and I represent the wolf clan.

And then my warrior name is Niwin Mashkadebejike, which means four buffaloes. And I got adopted into the Buffalo Clan. What was it like getting those names? Yeah, it's just an honor to have a name because when we have bad days or tough days, the elder tells us to pray to that name, ask that name for help. The Wolf Clan represents humility. The Buffalo Clan represents respect.

I'm trying to seek that minnow pamata saywin. That means I'm trying to seek that good life. And you're making amends to the people you've hurt? I'm making amends every single day, like to the community, to myself. You know, like I go to community walks, I go to ceremonies. Like I said, I go to, I

I try to volunteer. Like last night, I was at a boxing place. I was volunteering with a few other guys that come from my background, right? Like, you know, incarceration, gang life, addiction. And we just kind of like mentor the youth, try to encourage them not to go down the road we don't, right? But I'm in school full day, a full-time student, right? So it's like... What are you studying? It's like the indigenous version of...

Addictions counseling and mental health. So we try to incorporate more indigenous ways of life. We got the Western ways of healing, like the medical way, the doctor, but our way is just as powerful as that too. And if you put those both together, man, that's going to take you a long way. And they asked you to work here. Yeah, so this was the deal. Just like Greg said, right, like we're not going to kick out anybody. So for me, I had a bit of a barrier for me, right?

I was an active gang member. I just recently took off the gang list when I was like here, like after I left, I left incarceration. I kind of like, okay, I'm done with the gang stuff. I'm done with all that. So it was kind of hard for me. So like sober living was hard for me to get into because my criminal record, my affiliation with gang, the street life, the gang culture and all that stuff, right?

After the program, I tried to apply at all the sober living houses. Everyone pretty much said no. I have no place to go. I have no family. My mom and dad passed away, so I couldn't really go live with my parents. So they let me stay here for, I think, four and a half months. I had to volunteer around here. I had to continue still doing my program, but I wasn't in class every day like how some of the other participants are here. So we were starting to create

more cultural activities and bring culture. So that's when we just built the sweat lodge. So I was helping the culture coordinator with all that stuff. So eventually they just said, hey man, you want to work here? I'm like, yo, I got no education. I got a criminal record this big and it's all good. You got experience. Why not? I can still go to work and go to school at the same time, right? So that's what I did. So I did part-time work

work here and full-time student, right? And it was manageable. I'm maintaining it still today. How important is it that others who are going through the program now can interact with you as somebody who's been through the program, who was where they are at the present time?

Man, I guess I say it's super important, right? So like I get a lot of feedback from the participants and how much they appreciate a dude like me, right? As much as they think I'm helping them, man, they're also helping me, right? So it's like that reciprocal relationship with the participants I got here. And I was the same way too, right? I'm not going to open up to someone who doesn't know this lifestyle or live the life I live, right? His journey from participant to culture support worker at Bruce Oak Recovery has cemented his connection to the place.

To Scott Oak, that journey is so on point that he asked Terrence to provide the epilogue to his book, For the Love of a Son. Terrence never met Bruce Oak. Do you feel like you have a connection to his son, his late son, Bruce Oak? You know, like me and his son have the same poison, right? We were addicted to the same thing, right? Same stuff. And like, you know, I think we would have got along if I would have met him.

in real life, you know, obviously we like to listen to rap, you know. He was a rap artist. Yeah, I heard that, right? And I looked up some of his stuff. So, right, right? I think me and him would have got along good, man. And I still say what's up. I acknowledge him every time I pass him when I come into the center, right? I just say, okay, man, this is like, this is his spot. This is his house, his home. So I just, you know, I say what's up to him. And it's like, he's really here. And like, no, he is here, right? He's here in spirit, man. So in spirit is powerful, right? So it's like, he's with the guys, man, you know?

In the epilogue to Scott's book, you specified the number of steps that you walk from where you live to this place. And that was such a startling. How many steps is it? Say if I'm taking my time, maybe I might be on my phone. I'll probably be like either way from 580 to like 600 steps. Right. Or if I'm trying to get home fast, you know, I'll probably be like 580. Right. My children just live, you know, like literally like 10 minutes away from here.

work was here, my supports were right 587 steps away. I was trying to stay away from like the downtown core, like, you know, the hood and all that stuff. So 587 steps is your circle. It's close to where you live and everything's close by and you don't have to go to the wrong side of town, quote unquote. Is it also about being in the moment? Like if you're counting steps, if you get cravings, you have to just hang on to the moment, don't you?

Yeah, I've been in the moment, so like taking those steps, I'd always think about like, I get to take these steps free and sober today. You know, I get to take 587 steps free. I remember those times I would take 587 steps and a 6x12, pacing back and forth. Meetings are not that far. There's a meeting right on Portage right here. It's close. You know, Bruce Oaks on this side, the meetings on that side, schools, works on that side, my kids are on that side.

I don't have to leave that circle, man. It's just a win-win situation, right? I didn't even have a home. I consider this like home. And sometimes when I do need help, man, Greg is like my boom. I call him. I call him my big brother, man. I'm like, hey, man. Thanks, big brother. I always like, you know, it's family. This is a family, man. It's just stay connected, man, and you create something great. Terrence Moore, and I'm so glad I got a chance to meet you. Thanks, man. It was an honor to share a little bit about myself and what the center has done for me and, like,

They're part of my healing journey, man. They're part of it. They're a big part of it. And I acknowledge that everywhere I go. At the end of the day, I did it for myself too, right? Every time Terrence Morin gets to take those steps, he reminds himself of the people who can't. People like Bruce Oak. A small detail behind which is that something great that Terrence talks about. Something Bruce's dad, Scott Oak, can be proud of.

If you want to hear more from Scott, you can listen to part one of this two-part episode on the CBC Listen app or at our website at cbc.ca slash whitecoat. White Coat Blackheart was produced this week by Jennifer Warren with help from Stephanie Dubois and Samir Chhabra. Our digital producer is Ruby Buiza. Our senior producer is Colleen Ross. I'm Brian Goldman, and I'm proud to bring you stories from the Canadian side of the gurney. See you next week.

For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.