powered by:
valneva canada inc.
drugs, homelessness, street disorder: what's top of mind at this year's b.c. municipal conference?
dan fumano: 'it's not just a vancouver or a kelowna thing, we're seeing it in our smaller rural municipalities now,' says ubcm vice-president wesly graham, a councillor from cranbrook
aug 20 2024
4 minute read
st. paul's hospital is pictured as local governments struggle to grapple with intertwined crises in mental health, toxic drugs and homelessness
nick procaylo
/
101055583a
when the leaders of b.c.’s four major political parties visit the province’s annual municipal government convention next month, they can expect to be grilled on how they plan to help local governments struggling with the intertwined crises of mental health, toxic drugs, addictions, and homelessness.
these issues are not new. but they appear to be top of mind for many locally elected mayors, councillors and directors, and they form a recurring theme in the list of resolutions set to be debated at the union of b.c. municipalities convention coming to vancouver in september.
“local governments are the ones that are on the ground, and we are seeing that intersection of mental health, addictions, recovery and housing being critical and complex … and you’re seeing that through the resolutions that are coming to ubcm this year,” said ubcm president trish mandewo, a coquitlam councillor. “this year is an election year, and one thing that local governments want to hear about from all the (provincial) parties is what their plan is for providing a better response to the crisis and better supports for the people on the streets.”
sean fraser, federal housing minister, left, talks with ubcm president trish mandewo at the ubcm housing summit 2024 – a conversation with federal housing minister sean fraser. credit: ubcm.
ubcm
/
sun
based on the b.c. united and the conservative party of b.c. press releases in recent weeks, the province’s two right-of-centre parties appear eager to make drugs an election issue, especially around the rollout of decriminalization under the ndp.
in january 2023, b.c. became the first canadian province to decriminalize possession of hard drugs, a move the provincial government touted as a “bold action to save lives .” earlier this year, the b.c. ndp responded to public concern around increased public drug use, intoxication, and disorder, moving to prohibit illicit drug use in public places including hospitals and parks.
advertisement
advertisement
still, b.c. united and the conservatives are vowing to reverse decriminalization of hard drugs.
green leader sonia furstenau, however, has said she “would like to see the other opposition parties show even a sliver of urgency about homelessness and poverty that they reserve for drug use,” adding that reversing decriminalization “won’t solve the deep-rooted issues of inequality and disconnectedness.”
the weeklong ubcm convention runs from sept. 16 to 20 , with b.c. ndp premier david eby’s address scheduled for the thursday, to be followed the next day by remarks from b.c. conservative leader john rustad, furstenau, and b.c. united leader kevin falcon.
one agenda item at ubcm is a discussion on “the complex intersection of the toxic drug crisis, public use concerns and the affects communities, and local first responders.” it was originally slated as a monday “study session” in one of the convention centre’s smaller rooms, but this week, organizers decided to reschedule it for the following day’s plenary session in the main hall, responding to high interest in the subject matter and seeking to accommodate more participants.
man smokes from a drug pipe outside the yaletown ops/ thomas donaghy overdose prevention site friday, may 19, 2023.
jason payne
/
png
a key piece of every year’s ubcm convention is local officials debating and considering dozens of resolutions, voting on how to collectively lobby the province for action on a range of measures. this year, communities of varying sizes from all corners of the province are introducing resolutions related to mental health and drugs.
advertisement
advertisement
none of the resolutions call for reversing decriminalization — but many of them seek more provincial support for local governments overwhelmed eight years after b.c.’s toxic drug crisis was declared a public health emergency.
the city of merritt, in b.c.’s southern interior, is introducing a resolution seeking to better understand the impacts of drug decriminalization on b.c.’s local governments, including increased pressure on police and first responders. meanwhile, a resolution from terrace, in the northwest, says “the provincial government does not respond as quickly as needs arise” leaving local governments to tackle “community mental health and substance misuse/toxicity challenges with limited and often inadequate resources.” other resolutions call for more resources for detox and recovery beds.
“this is urgent and top of mind,” said ubcm vice-president wesly graham, a councillor from cranbrook. “it’s not just a vancouver or a kelowna thing, we’re seeing it in our smaller rural municipalities now.”
one resolution seeks to address the issue of police resources tied up in hospitals.
when police apprehend someone with an apparent mental disorder who appears to be a risk to themselves or others, and brings that person to the hospital, b.c.’s mental health act requires police to wait with that person until they can see a doctor.
advertisement
advertisement
“the opioid and mental health crisis in british columbia communities has resulted in an increase in the number and length of times police officers are immobilized to the service of the greater community to sit in hospital waiting rooms,” says the resolution, which was brought forward by the vancouver island municipality of view royal.
therefore, the resolution seeks to call on the provincial government to amend the mental health act so that hospital staff can be given “special constable status and peace officer status to relieve police officers of the responsibility of attending hospital emergency departments with apprehended individuals.”
graham called it “an excellent resolution,” because he hears about cranbrook mounties sitting in hospital waiting rooms for eight hours or more for this reason, sometimes forcing the detachment to call out other officers to work overtime to fill the gaps.
“i tell people: ‘this didn’t happen overnight, and it’s not going to get fixed overnight,'” said graham, who added he does not believe reversing decriminalization will solve everything. “there is no one silver bullet, this is going to take some time.”
bookmark our website and support our journalism: don’t miss the news you need to know — add vancouversun.com and theprovince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
advertisement
advertisement
you can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: for just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to the vancouver sun, the province, national post and 13 other canadian news sites. support us by subscribing today: the vancouver sun | the province.
share story
