It’s a common sight along the trails deep in the heart of Stanley Park – makeshift camps, hidden in the dense forest.
With the squatters comes an alarming amount of garbage. Broken beer bottles, condoms, and dirty needles often left for anyone to step on.
Friday, a crew from the Vancouver Park Board spent hours near Lost Lagoon cleaning up some of the worst offenders. Three camps were taken down, the annual spring cleaning moved forward to deal with an eyesore that caught the public’s attention this week.
Some people are now asking if more services are needed for the addicted and mentally ill living in Stanley Park. Would access to a supervised injection site keep people from shooting up in the park?
READ MORE: Vancouver man looking for help cleaning up Stanley Park
It is a complex question without a definitive answer.
Dr. Patricia Daly, the Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, says putting a facility like InSite near the park might not be possible, but any amount of harm reduction is a good thing.
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The problem is getting users to embrace harm reduction. InSite, the only publicly accessible injection facility in the country, is busy. One thousand people visit the Hastings Street location daily, and according to health officials, when the facility is busy the wait time is upwards of an hour. And while people are lining up to get in, there are still people injecting drugs regularly just outside.
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Vancouver Police Department Constable Brian Montague says the issue is not as straightforward as people might think.
If supervised injection sites won’t work, simpler ideas like needle disposal boxes might the better option. Vancouver Coastal Health also contracts PHS Community Services Society to run a mobile needle exchange. The latest statistics show 1.6 million used needles were collected in Vancouver. Giving campers in the parks better access to this kind of service might be another way to dispose of more needles safely.
Squatters are in many ways as much a part of Stanley Park’s history as is the seawall. Like it or not, there may be no other way to clean up the interior of the park except for regular sweeps by staff armed with proper protective gear.
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