British Columbia
New West assembly volition ballot Monday evening connected whether to widen the Starship Health Contact Centre's licence for different 18 months.
Residents, section concern owners, and councilors are divided connected whether to renew the site's permit
CBC News
· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 7:07 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago
New Westminster assembly and residents are divided connected whether to widen the licence for a harmless injection site.
City assembly volition ballot Monday evening on whether to widen the licence of the Starship Health Contact Centre operated by the Purpose Society and Fraser Health on Begie Street.
The docket contains 32 letters submitted by assemblage members. About fractional are successful enactment and fractional are opposed.
Supporters accidental it saves lives portion critics reason it's linked to much transgression and disruptive behaviour successful the area.
New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone is among the site's supporters.
"It truly provides a invaluable work to the assemblage that I don't deliberation we tin spell without," Johnstone said Monday greeting connected CBC's The Early Edition.
The question asks that the licence for the tract beryllium extended for 18 months, oregon until an alternate overdose prevention work is operational, whichever is sooner.
When assembly approved the tract backmost successful 2021, it was unanimously supported.
But Johnstone says enactment has shifted since then, partially due to the fact that the metropolis present has a caller council, and partially due to the fact that cause usage has changed successful the city.
He says the centre is capable to enactment radical utilizing drugs by injecting oregon consuming orally, but the bulk of those utilizing drugs successful New West are present doing truthful by inhalation, and galore bash truthful adjacent the centre.
"They bash privation to beryllium adjacent wherever they cognize there's life-saving care, and truthful they are spending their clip extracurricular nearby," said Johnstone. "People person a batch of concerns astir that."
The Early Edition7:52Controversial New Westminster overdose prevention tract goes earlier metropolis council
One missive from the Community Living Society, which supports adults who person developmental disabilities, says unit and clients often consciousness little harmless erstwhile visiting their New West office, which is located adjacent the overdose prevention site.
It says unit and visitors person experienced convulsive incidents and theft.
"We judge [extending the permit] would adhd to the existent problems and truthful we are opposed to it being approved," said the letter.
Johnstone says the metropolis is moving connected opening an inhalation centre successful a antithetic determination for a longer-term solution, but successful the meantime, the existent 1 needs to enactment open.
He says the tract has done much than conscionable supervised consumption. It has connected much than a 1000 radical to assorted wellness services, including detox programs.
"Ultimately, closing this tract is not going to code each the ills that are being faced successful municipality areas close now. It volition origin much deaths and it won't truly hole immoderate of the problems," helium said.
Safe depletion sites person caused contention successful different Metro Vancouver jurisdictions. Hundreds protested the opening of a cause depletion tract successful Richmond past year, which was yet halted, and the twelvemonth prior, the City of Vancouver unopen down an overdose prevention tract successful Yaletown.
With files from The Early Edition