City council in Nanaimo, B.C., has voted to defer a motion on asking the local health authority to close an overdose prevention site next to city hall.
The vote to defer Coun. Ian Thorpe’s motion passed with a 6-3 vote in favour of deferral during a special meeting of council on Monday night.
Had the motion not been deferred and instead passed a council vote, it would have resulted in the city formally requesting that Island Health close the site on Albert Street.
The motion came after a similar request this month by Victoria Coun. Marg Gardiner related to a safe consumption site that she says is plagued by crime, although councillors in that city delayed the motion until later this year.
In Nanaimo’s case, Mayor Leonard Krog said before Monday’s vote that while overdose prevention sites “unquestionably saves lives,” the motion reflected “increasing concern and frustration” among residents who are unsure about the facility’s effectiveness.
He said that in a time of scarce resources, he believes many are questioning whether the funding could be used elsewhere to help people, while dealing with the city’s “street disorder addiction issues.”
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Krog said before the vote on Monday that he expected Thorpe’s motion to be debated and deferred to allow experts and those with an interest in the issue to come before council at a later time.
The site has generated enough concerns about disorder and violence that municipal staff previously proposed building a 1.8-metre-high fence intended to protect those at city hall.
Nanaimo council voted against the $400,000 fence at a committee meeting this month, with Krog saying he was unsure about its effectiveness as well as the “really problematic message” it would send about the challenges of disorder in the area.
B.C.’s Health Ministry says in a statement that the Albert Street overdose prevention services site has had more than 113,000 visits since it opened in December 2022.
The ministry says while overdose prevention services are vital programs, they are expected to take action to mitigate “street disorder within the immediate vicinity of sites during operating hours.”
The Canadian Mental Health Association Mid-Island, which offers services at the Nanaimo site under Island Health funding, had not replied to requests for comment.
The Island Health website describes the overdose prevention site as offering “witnessed consumption for injection and inhalation” to provide a safer drug-use setting, where a rapid medical response is available if needed.
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