The legal battle over where drug use should and shouldn’t be allowed is heating up after the B.C Supreme Court struck down Bill 34.
The provincial government passed the legislation in October to outlaw open drug use in some public places like playgrounds, bus stops, and in front of businesses.
During a recent visit to the Okanagan, B.C. Premier David Eby said the government will ask the B.C. Court of Appeal to hear the Bill 34 case. “The Attorney General’s team has made that decision. They filed the necessary documents to appeal.”
Bill 34 is now on hold after advocates won an injunction arguing the legislation violates sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Simply because we, as British Columbians, have that compassionate understanding about people struggling with addiction doesn’t mean that we have to give up our parks or the doorways of businesses or the bus stops where people are waiting for transit,” Eby stated.
Eby is strongly supported by Okanagan mayors who are publicly expressing their concerns.
Mayors communities across the valley have penned a letter to the province and sent it off last week urging the government to fight the court’s decision in order to better protect public spaces.
“We don’t want playgrounds where there is open drug use, and the potential for paraphernalia, drug paraphernalia to be available anywhere around slides, around swing sets, where potentially a child could touch it innocently,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas. “There could be dire consequences.”
The mayors letter reads in part: “We understand the drive from various public interest groups for compassion and efforts to remove stigma for those who use illicit substances. … Our residents and businesses are experiencing continued escalating safety concerns and costs while frustrations continue to mount with the social discord on the streets of our cities.”
Dyas was among the B.C. mayors who pushed for Bill 34 after possession of small amounts of hard drugs was decriminalized in January 2023.
“It is our hope that when the Supreme Court looks at it again, that they decide that yes, we know we need to support these individuals who have dependency upon drugs,” Dyas said. But he continued that he thinks such support should ultimately come through increasing mental health services, rather than allowing situations that might put people at risk.
Eby said his government is committed to the idea that people struggling with addiction are not criminals and should not be locked up but that there should be boundaries around decriminalization for the good of everyone.
“As a province, we have the right to regulate the use of substances like tobacco, like alcohol, or hard drugs to say not here,” Eby said.
“I agree with the mayors, and we’ll be making our arguments in court on that.”
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