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By Alessia Proietti

February 15

Public hearing on Red Deer’s Overdose Prevention Site open to all speakers

Feb 6, 2024 | 10:27 AM

Red Deer city council approved that the upcoming non-statutory public hearing relating to the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) will be open to the entire public, including beyond city limits.

At their meeting on Monday, city council debated placing limits on who could speak at the hearing on February 15.

At their previous meeting on January 22, council was supposed to consider the Notice of Motion relating to the OPS, originally put forward by Councillor Vesna Higham in December 2023. 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. It also requests the provincial government provide grant funding to provide continuous police presence for the area in the meantime to prevent crimes and increase frontline supports for mental health and addictions.

As members of the public overflowed council chambers that day, council decided to hold a non-statutory public hearing instead, before consideration of the Notice of Motion.

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

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A non-statutory public hearing functions similarly to a regular public hearing, only it does not relate to a zoning matter.

The City has not held a Non-Statutory Public Hearing in recent years.

Councillors like Lawrence Lee voiced in favor of limitations to ensure that only locals speak on the matter, such as those who live, work, or volunteer in the City. Council debated whether only one person per business or organization be allowed to speak to avoid repetition.

Higham shared concerns allowing those globally to speak at the hearing and wanted to reiterate that council does not have the authority to remove the OPS as it falls under provincial jurisdiction.

Other councillors like Victor Doerksen supported leaving the hearing as open and broad as possible.

“Democracy is not a pretty thing to watch and it’s not necessarily efficient but people have a right to be heard,” he said.

Beginning at 9 a.m., members of the public are allowed five minutes of speaking time, can request the use of technology to show visual aids during their presentation, and can speak from a remote location, with a request to the Clerk by the end of the business day before the hearing date.

Members of the public can also submit written statements before the date listed in the advertisement of the hearing, indicating their full name and email.

The Clerk is allowed to withhold a public submission if they and legal counsel find it contains hate speech, discriminatory language, or defamatory language.

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