8 hours ago
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.
