Red Deer's Overdose Prevention Site (The Currency of Contribution Ep. 3)

By Alessia Proietti

Full house

Red Deer city council creates non-statutory public hearing for Overdose Prevention Site topic

Jan 22, 2024 | 7:21 PM

A full house in Red Deer council chambers for an item regarding the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) led council to replace the item with a non-statutory public hearing instead.

At their meeting on Monday, council had to open a separate room in City Hall (4914 48 Ave.) to accommodate those present. After discussing in an impromptu closed meeting, council postponed the item, creating a Special Council Meeting to be held at 9 a.m. on February 15, allowing residents to speak.

“This is a very unique situation that council wishes to address the voices of our community in a far more broader way than would’ve been the case this afternoon,” said Mayor Ken Johnston.

The item was the consideration of a Notice of Motion regarding Red Deer’s OPS, submitted by Councillor Vesna Higham in December 2023.

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The motion states that the OPS was installed in September 2018 by the province without public consultation, municipal approval, or land-use zoning. She describes various negative consequences that have resulted within the community like vandalism, debris, defecation, threats of violence and more.

The motion requests the Government of Alberta to formalize an orderly transition of the existing OPS out of Red Deer by the end of 2024 and, to provide in its place, greater harm reduction options within the community that focus on health, wellness, and recovery.

Present at the meeting was Jason Stephan, MLA for Red Deer-South, who encouraged residents through social media posts and sponsored ads to attend the meeting, said he believes the public should participate in the democratic process.

“I really appreciate our city council confronting an issue of great importance to our community,” he said. “Many members of our community love Red Deer just like I do and it’s important that we support our elected municipal officials as they do what is right and also that there’s accountability.”

A lifelong resident of Red Deer in attendance, wishing to remain anonymous, said the public needs to be involved in the process of such an important decision that affects local citizens.

“These are big concerns within the public from all spectrums of society and I think we’re at a pivotal point in making some very big decisions. I really applaud the council for taking their time and being very diligent in looking at this. I also applaud the provincial government to start implementing the actual recovery of the opioid addiction problems within Red Deer and all of Alberta,” he said.

Shay J. Vanderschaeghe, central Alberta resident, Red Deer property owner, former executive director of Centra Alberta AIDS Network (now Turning Point, the former operator of the OPS), and current Interim Executive Director with the Alberta Alliance Who Educate and Advocate Responsibly, a provincial group of members who use or have used drugs, and allies, said the item is about supporting the human rights of people who use unregulated drugs and providing them with appropriate responsible healthcare to meet their needs.

She believes there are also misconceptions to users of the OPS.

“For some reason, when we’re talking about the Overdose Prevention Site, we’re talking about crime, litter, and houselessness and those, of course, are all different issues. People who use drugs include a lot of people. There are a lot of people who are houseless who do not use drugs; there are people who use drugs who are housed,” she said.

Samantha Ginter, member of the Moms Stop The Harm network, shared how she lost her partner and father of her children in 2021 to what she calls “failed drug policies”. She says she currently has family members and friends who use the OPS and believes it is an important tool to keep people safe and families together while connecting people to services they may not otherwise have access to.

“I think it’s important that everyone has a chance to speak but most specifically, I think it’s important that people who use drugs and people who access this site have a right to speak to explain and share what this could mean for them, their families, their friends and I think it’s important that this isn’t something that people in power are deciding on without the guidance and direction of the people it’s directly impacting,” she said.

Residents wishing to speak will not need to register prior to the non-statutory public hearing.

READ MORE:

Red Deer’s overdose prevention site going mobile; AHS taking over from Turning Point

Alberta opioid deaths hit record highs, Red Deer behind only Lethbridge for death rate

Downtown business owner says City ‘whitewashing’ plight of nearby businesses from social disorder

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