Latest news with #PatrickJohnstone
CBC
8 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
New West to vote on controversial overdose prevention site
New Westminster council and residents are divided on whether to extend the permit for a safe injection site. City council will vote Monday evening on whether to extend the permit of the Starship Health Contact Centre operated by the Purpose Society and Fraser Health on Begie Street. The agenda contains 32 letters submitted by community members. About half are in support and half are opposed. Supporters say it saves lives while critics argue it's linked to more crime and disruptive behaviour in the area. New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone is among the site's supporters. "It really provides a valuable service to the community that I don't think we can go without," Johnstone said Monday morning on CBC's The Early Edition. The motion asks that the permit for the site be extended for 18 months, or until an alternate overdose prevention service is operational, whichever is sooner. When council approved the site back in 2021, it was unanimously supported. But Johnstone says support has shifted since then, partially because the city now has a new council, and partially because drug use has changed in the city. He says the centre is able to support people using drugs by injecting or consuming orally, but the majority of those using drugs in New West are now doing so by inhalation, and many do so near the centre. "They do want to be near where they know there's life-saving care, and so they are spending their time outside nearby," said Johnstone. "People have a lot of concerns about that." One letter from the Community Living Society, which supports adults who have developmental disabilities, says staff and clients often feel less safe when visiting their New West office, which is located near the overdose prevention site. It says staff and visitors have experienced violent incidents and theft. "We believe [extending the permit] would add to the current problems and therefore we are opposed to it being approved," said the letter. Johnstone says the city is working on opening an inhalation centre in a different location for a longer-term solution, but in the meantime, the current one needs to stay open. He says the site has done more than just supervised consumption. It has connected more than a thousand people to various health services, including detox programs. "Ultimately, closing this site is not going to address all the ills that are being faced in urban areas right now. It will cause more deaths and it won't really fix any of the problems," he said. Safe consumption sites have caused controversy in other Metro Vancouver jurisdictions. Hundreds protested the opening of a drug consumption site in Richmond last year, which was ultimately halted, and the year prior, the City of Vancouver shut down an overdose prevention site in Yaletown.
CBC
22-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
3 Metro Vancouver community news outlets to close as parent company cites 'financial challenges'
Glacier Media has announced the upcoming closure of three Metro Vancouver community news websites, and the mayor of New Westminster says he's worried about the impact. A statement posted online says Burnaby Now and the New Westminster Record will close no later than April 21 and Tri-City News will close by May 21. The statement says Glacier Media "explored all possible options to maintain operations" but the industry's "ongoing financial challenges have made it unsustainable." It says it has been a privilege and an honour to serve the community for more than 40 years. The three publications spent decades as print newspapers but in August 2023 transitioned to online-only. Publisher Lara Graham says in the statement that news of the closures is a very sad day for employees, readers and local journalism. "We're incredibly proud of the work we've done and we're so grateful to our hardworking staff who have made these publications so special, and to our loyal readers and advertisers who have supported us over the years," she said. In a statement posted to Facebook, New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone commended the work done by journalists who worked at community newspapers in his city. "They did journalism, and stood behind the ethics and responsibility that came with that noble term," he wrote. Johnstone said he is concerned about the effect the closures will have on his community and others in the region.
