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After two days of public speakers, council voted 7-2 to approve the motion
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After two nights of public hearings, Richmond city council approved a motion late Tuesday to consider implementing a supervised consumption site at the Richmond General Hospital precinct.
The motion, which was put together by Councillors Kash Heed and Laura Gillanders passed 7-2. Councillors Alexa Loo and Chak Au were opposed.
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The motion will instruct city staff to evaluate the potential benefits and challenges of implementing a supervised consumption site, including the impact on public safety and health care. It also asks staff to establish a task force to develop guidelines, protocols and best practices for the implementation of the faculty.
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The decision on whether to open a supervised consumption site is up to Vancouver Coastal Health, which would be responsible for operating the facility. The site would also require an exemption from Health Canada.
More than 120 people signed up to speak to the proposal over two days, many of them opposed to the site because of concerns over safety and the impact on the neighbourhood and whether a supervised consumption site is the best way to help people get off their addictions.
Gillanders said research has shown there was no increase in drug use at supervised consumption sites and that they could help people seek further treatment.
“Users who use the site are more likely to access detox, drug replacement therapy and treatment if they use the site than if they don’t,” she said.
Such a site would be different from the overdose prevention site in downtown Vancouver’s Yaletown neighbourhood, which shut down after two legal challenges alleging the facility led to an increase in crime and public disorder. That site was run by a non-profit, while a supervised consumption site at Richmond hospital would be operated by Vancouver Coastal Health.
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The process would take several years to get approved, she added, and there would be “many layers” of community consultation down the road.
Au said community consultation is needed now. The issue has divided many people in the community, who feel the motion was rushed and lacked meaningful engagement with residents, he said, adding that many people who spoke against the site were being unfairly labelled as “misled” or “misinformed.”
“It’s obvious in the comments made that we are divided. People are speaking with strong emotions and firm grounds.”
Loo said the motion focuses on a supervised consumption site when the city has already been told by Vancouver Coastal Health that “our numbers don’t warrant it.”
Richmond has 12 per cent of the health authority’s population and one per cent of drug addictions, said Loo, citing VCH numbers in a presentation to council last summer. “The bulk of the motion talks as if it’s already been approved and it’s ready for business. We’ve already been told by our public health officer we’re not getting one.”
At an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Premier David Eby shed some light on the position of the health authority. He said VCH is “trying to get a better handle” on why Richmond is bringing the proposal forward at this time, and whether such a facility is suited to the needs of the city.
chchan@postmedia.com
x.com/cherylchan
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