Fetch Haus's old location in Railyards is pictured here, a block from Safe Harbour, and Turning Point's temporary overdose prevention site. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

too much to handle

Overdose prevention site prompts move for local business

Apr 1, 2019 | 8:34 PM

The owner of a Red Deer business is putting blame in the laps of many for the recent relocation they decided to undergo.

Until recently, Gareth Scott’s pet supply store Fetch Haus was located just a stone’s throw from the temporary overdose prevention site in the Railyards district, not to mention the recently approved site for permanent SCS.

Due to the ongoing chaotic nature of things in the area, as he describes, they ultimately opted to move into a space at the top of the South Hill.

“It was better to move to save our business instead of staying down there and potentially losing it,” Scott says.

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“In the mornings when our staff would come to work, some of them would sit in their car because there would be somebody rushing up to their car window banging on it and they have to just sit there.”

He adds that there have been drug deals done in the open, people arguing and fighting in the streets, and all of this has caused his staff to consider quitting.

Asked who’s at fault for allowing what he describes to take place, Scott points to city council, the province, AHS and Turning Point.

“We also should have paid attention to what was going on, but we didn’t, and so we all have shares of the blame, but the location of this should not have been there,” he opines.

“The biggest part of the responsibility for this lays with Alberta Health Services and them saying that this was going to be the site, when the City had already designated an area up at the hospital grounds that would work. Turning Point holds a great amount of responsibility too because they said they canvassed all of the businesses in the area, but they never came to us at all.”

Stacey Carmichael, the executive director at Turning Point, admits her organization didn’t personally canvas each and every business in the area, but she says there’s an explanation for that.

“When the overdose prevention site came in, we were not required to do any consultations because of the nature in which it was established by the minister. We did deliver many letters around the neighbourhood and we just wanted to have a conversation at that time about OPS and what it would entail,” Carmichael recalls.

“When it came to permanent Supervised Consumption, at that time we were working in consultation with the steering committee comprised of us, Safe Harbour, The City, Alberta Health and AHS, and because we were required to do a variety of consultations, in order to kill two birds with one stone, the people that did go around and consult were speaking on behalf of everybody. So he’s right, Turning Point did not consult directly.”

Sarah Fleck, also with Turning Point, says the OPS’s site liaison did, for certain, visit Fetch Haus at one point last year to offer any help they may like with cleaning up or directing people that shouldn’t be there away.

She also notes that they are making many referrals a day for clients to housing, mental health, detox, medical, and treatment supports.

Though Fetch Haus has been in Railyards for a number of years, Scott says they’re still beholden to the lease for another 30 months. He hopes they can make that up with better sales at the new location, or by subletting the space they moved out of.

As far as locations, Scott figures something in the north industrial area would work much better for supervised consumption, and he believes that the people who’d use it can utilize the bus system to get there.

“We are not against helping people who want to help themselves. We will do our part,” he concludes, noting he has a grandson who uses drugs. “But we won’t support enabling drug use because that is what I consider this.”