Another supervised consumption site would be a catastrophe
By Lethbridge Herald on May 5, 2023.
Editor:
In 2017, with the support and encouragement of our federal Liberal government, our elected NDP government led by Rachel Notley and supported by Lethbridge’s two NDP MLAs Marie and Shannon, opened the Supervised Consumption Site (SCS).
At the time it became the busiest drug consumption site in North America. A majority of city council also supported the SCS including Rob Miyashiro. Miyashiro is now running as the NDP candidate to represent Lethbridge East in the legislature.
The saying goes “build it and they will come” and that is exactly what happened. More drug addicts, equals more drug dealers, equals more crime, equals chaos to local businesses and the community at large. Not to mention the extra burden placed on police services, first responders and the health system.
Non-violent crime exploded as measured by the Crime severity index (CSI) from 117.84 in 2016 to 155.45 in 2019.
This problem continues – you just need to read the Lethbridge Herald on April 19.
It took the UCP government to come in and clean up the corruption and mismanagement at the site and close down the SCS.
The question I ask myself, if the NDP forms the next government, including support from Lethbridge, will we see another Supervised Consumption Site?
I am afraid we might and that would be catastrophic.
Think about this before you cast your ballot.
Barrie Orich
Lethbridge
13-12
Barrie, you are absolutely right. However, the polls are thankfully now showing greater support for the UCP to form the government.
If we were to have either or both Phillips and Miyashiro in office, Lethbridge could be faced with their unequivocal support for another SCS or some variation thereof. If for only that reason, (but there are so many more) it is not a wise decision to vote NDP in Lethbridge East or West.
Phillips and her “shannon-agans” along with Miyashiro and his unfavorable track record on City Council….to the point of outright fighting with fellow Council members…in particular with now Mayor Hyggen. (Can you imagine Miyashiro now interacting with Mayor Hyggen??? – or visa versa) …it just wouldn’t work, no matter how much icing was put on that cake!
Let’s do a little statistical exercise, it might be useful for the people in these comments, used to making things up. Here is the non-violent crime severity index in Lethbridge over the years.
2012 – 90.94
2013 – 81.24
2014 – 102.17
2015 – 115.21
2016 – 134.18
2017 – 155.20
2018 – 176.91 (the year the SCS opened)
2019 – 175.67
2020 – 170.20 (the year the SCS closed)2
2021 – 154.01
Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510019001&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.16&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2014&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20140101%2C20210101
Crazy how the SCS caused a spike in crime… in the years before it opened! Time travelling criminals, oh my! Now the uninformed among you might point to 2021, and say “look, the numbers dropped after it closed”. However that same 10% drop occurred in Alberta as a whole. Quite full of ourselves thinking our safe consumption site was the entire balance of crime in the entire province.
Rather than tie ourselves in logical knots trying to promote a false conclusion, perhaps there’s a simpler explanation. The crime rate was clearly already rising, perhaps due to a nationwide opioid crisis (I wonder if something like that was going on…), and the supervised consumption site was a response to the people dying from that crisis.
Amazing how we can convince ourselves that the SCS in one small city is capable of adjusting the crime rate across a province, granting criminals time travel abilities, and being entirely responsible for a crisis across Canada and the United States.
And all this based on one frightened person fear mongering about a thing that nobody is suggesting. There is absolutely no indication that the NDP will push forward another supervised consumption site – despite the fact that they clearly should.
On the other hand, Danielle Smith has spoken publicly about not being averse to supervised consumption services, and allocating an addition $275M to harm reduction. I don’t say this often, but good on them – the UCP seem to be the ones following the research here.
Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-future-of-supervised-consumption-sites-in-alberta-remains-murky/
The SCS focused the problem for people. What was created was a clubhouse not a Safe/Supervised Consumption Site. Crime escalated because crime was planned in the basement of the SCS.
It did not represent a true European Style SCS and is the poster child for creating the traffic it needed to hire 177 people.
The usefulness or uselessness of a SCS can be analyzed however, I find people everywhere including Lethbridge that skew data to accomodate their bias opinion.
If you look at raw data and remove the bias, there is no data that suggests an SCS makes any difference whatsoever, other than a feel good for those offering it, as well as a wage. Lethbridge averages 5.66% deaths per population of addicts per year. Based on that I am predicting 31-34 this year (550-622 addicts based on 409 PIT report).
I showed raw data on crime showing quite clearly that the SCS did not cause crime to escalate – there was a clear escalation BEFORE it opened. You however claimed the raw data supports your point, while forgetting to show any of it. What the heck are they teaching in school these days… it’s certainly not statistics. Was your 31-34 deaths prediction meant to impress me?
Since I’m in the business of actually backing up my claims instead of making things up, try this on – I’m sure you’ll find some conspiracy behind them and dismiss them, but if someone scientifically literate is reading they may benefit.
SCS’s reduce overdose mortality, result in 67% fewer ambulance calls (and therefore taxpayer dollars spent) and decrease HIV infections: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5685449/
SCS’s do not enhance drug use, they reduced levels of public drug injections and dropped syringes: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871614018754
SCS’s resulted in a 26% net reduction in overdose deaths, decrease needle sharing, and improve public safety. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2022/0500/p454.html
My 31-34 was not intended to impress it was to show that on average we are losing 5.66% of the users per year. Based on a forecast of about 622 from the PIT Count of addicted at 410 that works out to that number.
Why such a large jump? In 2016-2017 the Chief of Blood Tribe and Council started booting people from the now closed 100 homes. At the sametime in early 2017 the Chief authorized a clamp down on Drug dealers and the Blood Police issued a statement that they would stop every car not considered to be a resident.
That forced dealers and addicts into Lethbridge at the sametime Bourgue opened the SCS. Fast forward to a month ago, Chief Fox did the same thing again. He knows exactly what he is doing and he knows more of his addicts will be coming to Lethbridge.
As for your statistics on SCSs they are purposely skewed for your benefit. First, needle reduction was a total lark. Every pharmacy and SCS in Lethbridge was issuing them by the truckload. Because our SCS sent some of their people out to pick needles up and because cities with drug issues hire people to pick needles up(paid by taxpayer) that does not mean an SCS reduces needles, it just means people get irrate if their city is not doing an extra good job. Secondly, SCSs only reduce public injection by the 10% of the active users that use an SCS, because thats all that use an SCS. At the peak of our SCS usage Bourgue had 167 unique users. Who she says used her facility more than 4 times a day. So if I open a building downtown and allow users to inject there I will reduce the number of public injections per day by the same amount. Third, Perhaps some SCSs increase public safety but I can assure you, ours did not. Crime data shows the crime rate peaked according to the Lethbridge Police Chief while the SCS was functioning. What happens on a Country scale is not what happens at the City level.
Fourth, If you want to compare our situation then do not compare no SCS to an SCS. Compare an SCS vs OPS because since 2018 we have had one or the other.
Lastly why would I try to impress an alias with no responsibility for what he/she posts? Yale Belanger would never post here because he says people don’t have the guts to use their real name, do you agree?
It must be nice to be free from the burden of actually supporting any of your claims. Alas, I feel compelled to post things I can back up with evidence, despite how much easier it would be to go “nuh uh that’s biased and you’re wrong!” and continuing on in my arrogant ignorance.
Yes, evidence taken in isolation can be used no matter what side of the story you are on.
In fact without further ado, I shall offer proof of SCS success. If we took a Downtown Killing SCS and changed it to a SCP then we could save far more lives then an SCS ever saved. Whats an SCP? A SCP is a Supervised Consumption Person. We could assign one person to every Addict. They would remain with the addict 24/7/365 He/she/them/those/it would be outfitted with a Pop up tent, A drug dispensory with a supply of 30 days, (clean supply) food, toilet, Naloxone, sublicade, a computer, massage table, portable shower, cellphone and a drone capable of lifting their Addict and safely delivering them ASAP to the emergency Room of a Hospital if Naloxone fails.
Problem solved. Harm Reduction without City Destruction……..make it so YB!
I don’t think there are enough drugs on earth for me to get in the headspace you were in while typing this. You really think you proved something there, didn’t you?
confound you and your facts! if you cannot simply just make stuff up to share, could you please move along?
how dare you invoke factual evidence in this forum? no wonder your entry is so negged by the knowledgeable sort here that knows what they likes and likes what they knows. do you not know that evidence is the enemy of ignorance and the fearful that so need to control everyone and everything?
You obviously went for the “conjob” he fed you NONviolent crime index which includes traffic tickets etc, last time I checked the Downtown Addicts didn’t own a car
If you look at the Crime severity index which is the actual number that ranks you against other cities the numbers are somewhat different when SCS was open in 2018- 2020 I included NDP and UCP so by this you could also surmize NDP bad UCP good, right? So again, anyone can manipulate data to prove “their” point. CSI went from 98.96 to 161.33 on NDP watch, and from 160.97 to less than 148.93 on UCP watch. Probably 2022 is 130ish
Just proving one thing YQLDude should take a 10 day posting holiday!
2014 98.96 (CONSERVATIVES)
2015 112.24 (NDP)
2016 121.06 (NDP)
2017 140.76 (Chief Fox blocks all non reserve Cars closes (100 now) houses (NDP)
2018 161.33 (SCS opens, all the new addicts have a clubhouse to plan their robberies) (NDP)
2019 160.97 We are number 2 on CSI (NDP/UCP)
2020 158.50 (SCS Closes ) We are number 1 on CSI (UCP)
2021 148.93 (UCP)
2022 (LPS Chief says Crime down at Community meeting and CSI will drop again)
2023 __________ Chief Fox announce Apr 2023 blocking of cars, crack down on addicts and dealers……we should be near 160 again if this is the trend.
CSI ranking is not only how you are doing but also how you are doing against your peers. In 2021 we were number 1 with a lower number, which means peers were getting better faster than us
The numbers you posted seem to show the crime rate spiking prior to the SCS, then peaking and starting to decline while it was open. Also “blocking cars?” – what are you going on about now?
I pray that some day I reach this level of confidence while publicly demonstrating I don’t have the foggiest clue what I’m talking about or what’s going on around me. What a way to live!
when we consider the violent crime index, it would be best to categorise acts whereby violence takes place between another consenting to fight, and those acts whereby a person is assaulted without consent. what i am considering is how much of the violent crime index reflects interactions among the hardcore that drink and use pharm drugs on our streets, and “innocent” upstanding citizens…you know, the likes of those that support drug enforcement policies that drive up pharm drug street prices such that addicts need to steal to support their habit. i am also considering by how much has “domestic” violence risen in terms of driving up our index…and if it has risen notably what is the driver of that.
then, i wonder by how much violent crime and theft diminish in our society when drugs are instead made affordable. then, i wonder by how much we reduce overdose and severe toxicity by ensuring drugs addicts use are quality controlled. then, i wonder why it is that those purporting to be about helping the lives of addicts, and purporting to care about society, seem to be most about getting tougher on drugs…and even though we we have a very many decades of tough on drugs approaches that are obviously ineffective, and are what in fact continue to make the situation all the worse.
I think people have to understand what the plan is, at the moment and how it evolved.
According to numerous people in CSD (A Division within the City staff) and the NonProfits, the 19 Acres of Burnside, as it is known, has “always been the plan for the Addicted treatment Center or Community Care Center, or as Spearman referred to it as “the Southern Alberta Rehab Facility”.
Apparently, according to an LHA spokesman, this has “always been the plan”! which is quite interesting because as an opposer to the plan, I found NO ONE other than the nonprofits,LHA, CSD, SSIG, etc etc, knew “it was always the plan”. No residents, no businesses, no employees, no employers, none of them knew it was “always the plan”, some knew it was being considered but also hoped it would not be selected. Not only has this been the plan but now they (whomever “they” are) have slipped in the caveat that we shall serve “the wider regions”. So it was never going to be a Community Care Campus, it was always envisioned as something far bigger.
So where is the 19 Acres of Burnside? It is located from the Train Tracks at Stafford (where the shelter is now) to 5th Avenue North all along Stafford. The depth is back to the City property power gate. So the area is about 19 Acres. So all the buildings you see or vacant land you see ACROSS THE STREET from Oil Changers, Switzers, through to the Gas station on 5th and Stafford is part of this plan.
Whom got the ball rolling in this latest run of “its always been the plan”? Someone encouraged the Province to purchase a piece of property next to the Used Truck lot on the South East Corner of 5th North and Stafford. It has now become the Anchor and North Border for something that “its always been the plan”. This lot will hold a 42 bed facility for High Acquity Individuals. People needing AHS care daily.
The second group that continued the ball down the road was a committee appointed under Spearmans watch whom ensured that the only area that would be studied as suitable was the Social Services Integration Group (SSIG). They ensured that only one choice was offered to the City, so the “fix was in”. The SSIG was composed of about 16 nonprofits/CSD and 2-3 citizens so the vote always favoured what the nonprofits/CSD wanted and they ensured “always the plan” would become “the plan”.
Curiously the SSIG hired a consultant OrgCode whom suggested the whole area be fenced, one entrance, one exit, and guards be doubled to protect staff while “serving the homeless”? That report by the way is very very hard to get a copy of from the city. That report basically says its a security issue inside the “compound” but gives no answers to what happens or what security is needed when you release the “homeless” on our downtown? So my question has always been, when did the “Homeless” become so dangerous? The answer of course is they are not referring to the homeless as you and I know them, they are referring to the MethHeads, Crack Addicts etc etc that “they” call “Homeless”?
Next group moving this down the road was Cultural Social Standing Policy Committee. CSSPC composed of a couple of councilors who also understood “this was always the plan”.
Sidebar
During this period of 2020-2023 I enter with a second plan, thinking naively that no one should be faced with killing the downtown as a single solution. After all if you are confronted with a solution of one, then you have to choose that “one” or go back to the drawing board.
During this period a few indigenous tried to make Lethbridge feel guilty about closing the SCS. Dr Tailfeathers pronounced on a SACPA video that 90 Indigenous had died since the SCS closed. I knew the number was 29 and posted a letter in the Herald suggesting she was not telling the truth.
I immediately was accused of being a Racist (easiest way to discredit anyone). After I investigated further I found 90 was a number that Dr Tailfeathers was given by the Blood Tribe. 90 was composed of Older people who died of natural causes, or Cancer, or some terminal disease etc and the 29 from the SCS.
So I thought I should do a retraction, others disagreed. I was not wrong on my inital comment but felt that 90 was a valid number as a total, and perhaps she did not mean to attach it to the SCS for “theatrical purposes”. So I did a withdrawal and apology thinking just perhaps we could resolve this problem because I knew what was going to happen. Sadly, the “racist rants continued on Social Media so there was no opportunity for “reconciliation between the two of us”.
So I just moved on with Elders on the Blood who wanted to help their children. I developed what I called the “Indigenous plan” with the help and guidance of elders of the Blood Reserve. https://lethccc.com I did it as my contribution to Standoff/Lethbridge and to reconciliation. It was my contribution. Strangely not one of the Elders think I am a racist, they might think I am an ahole but I wear that badge with pride.
The plan was to consider using the “Acres Property” for the Addicted. Why? For starters 76% are Indigenous and they would have access to Parents or Relatives or if neither than Traditional Healing. No other property was considered because anywhere else and Parents etc do not have access to their children. That does not mean other properties would not be suitable, its just I am not aware of any at the moment. The Acres Property is unique in that it is a piece of property on the North side of the Old Man River at Hwy 509 across the road from Kidd Rifle Range. The reason it is unique is because even though owned by the Blood Reserve it was not surveyed into the Reserve (so I understand). So its owned by Blood but not part of the Reserve. Why is this important? Because the Elders who think the Indigenous plan at https://lethccc.com is a good idea said they would take Indigenous and NON-Indigenous addicted.If the land was part of the Blood Reserve no nonindigenous could live on the land. (Its tough to be a racist if you are helping everyone, I may have to rethink this)
How would this affect Lethbridge?
1) It would provide a home for addicted something that will not occur for years if you rely on Governments by then Lethbridge downtown will be a ghetto.
2) A bus service would be established between Standoff and Lethbridge stopping at the Facility
3) It would remove the addicted from Downtown and Galt Gardens and clean up our city
4) It would provide a facility to standoff for their problem addicts and they would be shuttled to the facility.
How many problems would it solve for both Communities?
1) https://lethccc.com/standoff.html
2) https://lethccc.com/lethbridge.html
So how is it going?
Well, let me tell you how its going;
1) I must be a Racist even though solving the problem for Indigenous and others) and should not be listened too
2) I do not have a degree in anything so whom am I to try to add common sense to this issue?
3) I spent 28 years in the Navy watching Drug Destruction around the world and saw solutions that would work but interfere with too many nonprofits and the “master plan”
4) No businesses will support me because they are afraid they will be boycotted by the Church groups which in this city is 90% of their business or the bylaws officer will forever make their life miserable?
5) No business representative groups will speak up because of the same reason
6) Residents still do not know “this is the plan” or do not care as long as its not in their backyard (NIMBY)
7) As long as someone else is getting the shaft (our society, our downtown existence, our enjoyment of our own parks and spaces) then its AOK as long as its not me!
8) Lately when advertising in the Lethbridge Herald, “I am now a Vigilante Group” which I am having great difficult maintaining as “one person with two young ladies that help me”.
9) After 3 formal requests to present the Plan to Chief Fox and the Council I gave up because they would not even answer my emails with a no, I got no answer at all.
So what is next?
I am coming close to the end. (so is Lethbridge downtown).
I have one last kick at the cat. I am part of a panel which will be discussing the Homeless on the 15th of May (Dr TailFeathers is also part of that panel) at the Library through SACPA. 6PM to 8PM
What makes you so righteous and arrogant that you think what you say is right and others are wrong?
1) Everyone in the world has done the same thing, killed their downtown and then struggled to regain it later. I am trying to stop that occuring before it does
2) The self righteous, the holy, the sorrowful, the overindulgent among us suggest that the word Homeless encompasses all. It is irrelevant that an addict may have been kicked out of 10 homes before, he just deserves an 11th. “They” purposely paint you as a meanie, a heartless pr*ck if you do not agree. If you try to define the differences within the group, you get tears of sadness for being a hearless b*stard.
3) There is not a person in Canada who knows how to run or put in place an SCS because no one understands there has to be rules for ANYTHING you do with addicts! We tolerate idiots that call themselves experts. They are really self appointed or read it out of a book that was created by another idiot with no life experiences.
4) I do not like playing with peoples lives, many use addicts to achieve an end. The holy, the sorrowful, the tear-jerking masses know that Canada/Alberta/Lethbridge cannot house all of the planned Immigrants (500,000), all of the Ukrainians, single moms and dads, all of the Mentally Challenged, all of the true Homeless, all of the Addicts but if you wave “that flag of we always must do more”, you are a loving person. If you do not because you know its impossible to achieve and seek other solutions , then you are a pr*ck.
5) So, I have decided to provide a HOME for the bottom of that barrel, the addicted. It will relieve Lethbridge and Standoff of about 450 big big problems. It will reduce crime exponentially, it will reduce wear and tear on Emergency Services, Fire Department, medics, LPS Police/Blood Police, Sherriffs, Blood Housing and restore security to home owners and businesses in both places.
You still did not answer the question, why so arrogant?
When everyone dismisses you because you do not have a degree in cluelessness, or did not mix in the appropriate social circles and disagree with virtually everything said by the politically motivated no matter NDP or UCP or those that extract directly or indirectly from the Bible of Government support…you tend to get p*ssed off, just like me!
Disclaimer
I do not own property in the downtown, I do not have a business in the downtown, I do not have any vested interest whatsoever in the downtown. I will not have financial interest, or interest of any kind in the facility I suggest to build. I will not be a consultant or benefit financially in any way from this facility being built but the Indigenous will as they will run it. Standoff people will benefit with jobs. Me? I am 74 and may volunteer to help, thats it!
Why do you do this?
No idea, I guess because no one else will. I know the difference between right and wrong and this is wrong! I know that Do No Harm should mean Do No Harm to ANYONE! Not just to a select group! So you do no harm to businesses, you do not harm to residents and you do no harm to your society. If those are preserved, then go ahead and do as you wish with your “select groups”!
Dennis, your long winded, factual comment(s) have missed the point of Barrie’s letter to the editor..
.. simply, be cognizant that if you vote NDP you may be helping to establish a new SCS or something of that fashion, once again.
Not really, whomever comes in is going to advance the Community Care Campus(CCC), its being advanced under the UCP and it will continue to be advanced under the NDP, it is why Phillips won’t even comment on it, even though its in her district. One of the services within the Campus is an SCS, in fact Treena Tallow Co-Chair of Reconciliation Lethbridge and a member of SSIG tabled the motion for an SCS in the CCC at an SSIG meeting. So does it matter if the SCS is on 2nd South or 3rd North? You may not of known that, but I am not surprised because 99% of Lethbridge does not know it. So either its an SCS under the NDP or OPS under the UCP, which are the same, one is provincially approved, the other Federally both achieve the same thing.
Again, few people understand what is being planned for our city and would prefer to object at the 11th hour which is way way way too late.
Whats an OPS? Many people(not the community, the service providers) prefer OPS(Overdose Prevention Site) to SCS (Supervised Consumption Site) , an OPS fills a critical gap in the spectrum of harm reduction: OPS’s are lower-barrier than SCS and offer the expertise and direct experience of experiential “peer” workers. Oftentimes, they allow modes of consumption that are prohibited in most SCS, such as drug inhalation.
If you look at the existing shelter, you will find 50-60 addicts hanging around the back and street side of the shelter that were not there before. That is because of an OPS in the back of the shelter that replaces the mobile unit. Again, unless people are paying attention, then people are marching us into something no one wants other than nonprofits and the Province.
So if you and others believe a political party is going to save us, I think you would be sadly dissappointed. Both are running their private agendas whether ratepayers approve it or not.
Why do we have an OPS and not an SCS? An OPS facility is meant to address an immediate need in the community and can be set up in a matter of weeks because they don’t require community surveys or consultations and are not required to have support services like a SCS.
So you can’t stuff an SCS somewhere without the citizen input (NDP) but you can bypass ratepayers by calling it an OPS (UCP). That is what is happening NOW in Lethbridge. So choose your poison but do not assume for a second that the end result will be better, because it will not, no matter whom takes power. I am politically neutral on this topic because I think both parties intend on royally screwing our downtown, our businesses and our residents! Why not ask the candidates a straight question, then watch them do the “White Man’s” version of the “Chicken Dance”!
I thank Barrie for his letter but, I don’t think he understands what is happening here?
The NDP bought the land for the 42 bed unit by 5 avenue north when they were in office.
Sorry just replying generally not to anyone in particular.
Has there been a change to the panel members then,with the addition of Tailfeathers? Someone must have had to drop out? Or maybe she has been added to the current list or what was the current list? Or a drop out feared or realized it maybe easier to be a 2 minute expert on social media ?
Yale Belanger dropped out and Robin James LHA was added
and Bonnie Lee PHD was added, and Chelsey DeGroot + me and Dr Tailfeathers….so 5 people it would appear.
#6 Are they strongly pushing for some of these features to this plan specifically because it does not affect them personally? If it was by their place of work or home would they be soo strongly in support? Should they have to state where they live? It would be interesting to chart it.
I totally agree. They should also be asked whether there are any financial gains for them (a pay-cheque/pension through a Union for example).
No idea really,
It will be interesting, people will be gunning for me I would expect? With 5 members on the panel each speaking to a question for 5 minutes each makes for a short session.
Great letter Barrie! I drive for a living here and have been blessed to a front row seat to how devasting the so called SCS is and has been to our little city.
We can’t elect another city and economy wrecking NDP government! Shannon and the rest of her idology-twisted cohorts need to be wiped right of the political map for good! Thats the only way( I can see) that we can get our city back some kind of normalcy again.
what a great take, b.o! indeed, as the sky is going to really rain down, i, for one, will be getting myself a very good umbrella, not least one of a quality that will protect from the sharp, dank winds such as those blowing in the letter.