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City of Nanaimo promises to consult community on possible safe injection site

Nov 23, 2016 | 4:40 PM

NANAIMO — The city of Nanaimo vows the public will get their say if a controversial harm reduction strategy proposal is made locally.

The city’s social planner John Horn says supervised injection drug site discussions between Island Health and the city are in the early stages.

He says a detailed public consultation process would happen if a proposal came forward.

“Recognizing that this is a fairly substantial issue and has lots of impact in our community, that we would work with our partners Island Health to develop a broadly consultative process,” Horn said.

Horn says there are two broad factors in determining if a safe injection drug site is a good fit in Nanaimo.

“The regulatory response to land use application is one part of it, then there’s…where is this community in terms of safe injection sites, what is the position of our citizens on this.”

Horn notes that Island Health officials have indicated that such a service in Nanaimo would likely not be established in a stand-alone facility, but rather part of an existing health delivery model.

On Monday night, Nanaimo city council requested a staff report focusing on zoning and costing implications and information from other local governments on supervised injection sites.

Coun. Jerry Hong says he visited downtown Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Military Museum on Monday, where staff members showed him needles that they’ve picked up from Piper Park, above Front Street.

“Their concern is the safety of the kids and the parents that run around that park and some with no shoes on, and they’re constantly picking up needles,” said Hong.

Councillors Jim Kipp and Gord Fuller also spoke about the need to explore the concept locally.

Last week, central island medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback told NanaimoNewsNOW that discussions had begun with city officials on the possibility of a local safe drug injection site. Hasselback and Horn both support the concept.

Public feedback is currently being garnered in Victoria for three possible sites in that city. Local government and Health Canada approvals are required for the service to be offered, according to Island Health media relations manager Kellie Hudson. She says the hope is for the program to be offered in Victoria some time next year.

She says it’s far too soon to even estimate in what time frame Nanaimo could see the harm reduction strategy being implemented.

Overdoses have claimed 23 lives in Nanaimo this year through the end of October, according to the BC Coroners Service. In comparison, the agency notes that 28 people in Nanaimo were killed by overdoses between 2007 and 2012. Fentanyl has been linked to 20 of the overdose fatalities in Nanaimo this year, according to the Coroner.