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Parksville passes on safe-injection site

Council votes to continue monitoring worsening transient, drug-use crisis
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Increasing numbers of homeless/transient camps and discarded needles have stretched the City of Parksville’s staff and resources. — NEWS file photo

Facing a crisis of transients, drug use and mischief complaints that has exploded in the past year, Parksville council debated solutions including needle sweeps and a safe injection site before settling on continued monitoring of the situation for the next six months.

During its regular meeting on Aug. 21, council received a report from chief administrative officer Debbie Comis that painted a dire picture of the increase in drug users’ needles found in the community and in complaints of business mischief in the downtown core.

The report offered four potential actions the city could take to address the crisis, including the adoption of an Island Health-directed needle recovery program and lobbying the Ministry of Health for financial support for an overdose prevention site, also know as a safe injection site.

Both of those options were included in a motion by Coun. Sue Powell, and drew support from Coun. Mary Beil.

“I do understand that right now (safe injection sites) are not providing the level of treatment people need, but they do provide a safer place,” said Beil. “And it reduces the number of discarded needles that are being found out in the community. And that is something I would really like to see in our community.”

In her report, Comis said it has been common to come across one or two needles on the ground. But, “in certain areas we are now finding caches of needles — in one case 80 and in a second case a bag of 45 discarded near the beach.”

The report noted complaints of business mischief downtown, for transgressions including agressive panhandling, people sleeping in doorways and more, went from 21 in 2015 to 76 in 2016, before jumping to 126 such calls in just the first six months of 2017.

“For the first time, in 2016, the issues of transient/homeless encampments and rampant illicit drug use impacted operations for the City of Parksville,” Comis wrote in the report. She wrote that the growth in the population of homeless and transient people in the community, combined with illicit drug use and the fentanyl crisis, “diverted local government resources away from our usual work plan and essentially took on a life of its own where we were, and continue to be, in a continual response mode to address an increasing number of complaints and concerns from the public.”

Response to those complaints is made by city staff and/or Oceanside RCMP, the report said. The city has taken additional steps, including budgeting contracted services for biohazard cleanup, placing of needle disposal equipment in key areas, and teaming with the Regional District of Nanaimo to provide land for a shelter and transient housing.

Coun. Kim Burden introduced an amendment to Powell’s motion that the safe-injection site funding be dropped and only the needle collection program be adopted. That motion failed 3-2, with Coun. Kirk Oates abstaining and Coun. Teresa Patterson absent.

Coun. Leanne Salter, pointing out that councillors will be meeting with ministers in the incoming NDP government at this month’s Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference, said council should hold off on policy or funding commitments until it learns more in those discussions.

“I can’t support this (motion) at this time, when there could be something better coming,” she said.

Council then voted on Powell’s motion, with Powell, Beil and Mayor Marc Lefebvre voting for it and Burden, Salter and Oates voting against.

Oates then moved to go with the report’s fourth recommendation, to continue with current staff and RCMP activities and to monitor the situation “to determine if further action is considered appropriate.”

That motion was approved, with Burden and Salter voting against.

Story tips: jr.rardon@pqbnews.com