City residents give council earful on supervised injection sites

‘Already, the drug dealers, they own the place. It will only get worse,’ says resident

Tensions were running high at city hall Monday with more than two dozen community members begging city council not to endorse three supervised injection sites for drug users in their area.

“Already, the drug dealers, they own the place. It will only get worse. How is that healthy for anyone?” said McCauley resident Geo Fiddler, showing council a photo-montage of used needles and homeless people in the area.

“It’s bad enough in Chinatown. You add this in, it’s going to make it worse,” said Mei Hung, vicechairperson of the Chinese Benevolent Association.

The three sites span Chinatown — drug dealers and addicts will constantly move back and forth between them, Hung said, urging council to support only one site so police can keep a better eye out for drug dealers preying on vulnerable people in the area. “Safety is a huge concern for our community.”

Because of the volume of public speakers, council postponed its vote until Tuesday.

It’s being asked to send a letter of support to the federal government to secure an exemption to the Criminal Code.

The debate was planned for June, but provincial officials asked Edmonton to expedite the process. It would be funded as a health service.

Residents and business leaders said supervised injection sites are needed but shouldn’t be concentrated in two inner-city neighbourhoods. They’re needed along Stony Plain Road, Whyte Avenue and Fort Road, they said, calling for council to show greater respect.

“I care about the person who was killed in my back lane last year,” said Gordon Stamp, adding the people who own homes there are forced by fear to stay inside every evening.

“There’s more than 200 neighbourhoods in Edmonton and we can’t find any other than these two to host these sites?” resident John Kolkman asked.

Kolkman is a past president of Boyle McCauley Health Centre but still doesn’t support the pitch. “The focus should be on detox and treatment,” he said.

“We’re just saying, ‘You’re already Downtown Eastside. You just are,’” resident Rob Stack said. “I’m already at the point of giving up on the neighbourhood.”

Organizers propose three community-based sites at Boyle McCauley Health Centre, Boyle Street Community Services and the George Spady Society, plus one at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for admitted patients only.

That’s because it’s essential to embed the service within an existing health and support facility and no single facility in the inner city has the capacity to host the service on its own, organizer Elaine Hyshka said. Two will be open during the day while the George Spady will be open evenings and weekends. It also has detox beds.

It’s not a silver bullet that will fix the fentanyl crisis, said Gloria Keays, provincial medical officer of health. But it’s one solution to keep people alive long enough to get the support and addiction treatment they need.

Fentanyl is now mixed into many street drugs and one person dies every day in Alberta, according to Alberta Health Services. This part of Edmonton has been a hot spot for overdose-related emergency calls.

When council reconvenes Tuesday, Coun. Andrew Knack said he’ll ask whether a facility is also needed on Stony Plain Road and Whyte Avenue.