Cyndi Vos, the Executive Officer at the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge Chamber: Intox/detox facilities & supportive housing will help local economy

Jul 16, 2019 | 2:41 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Chamber of Commerce is advocating for millions of dollars in funding to be re-secured to help curb the city’s drug crisis.

Lethbridge News Now reported last week that the new UCP government put $11.2-million in funding for a rehabilitative housing project “under review” with no firm timelines on when an answer could be given. More details here.

Executive Officer of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Cyndi Vos says she has heard from a lot of local businesses that are concerned that a rise in drug usage is driving both customers and staff away and never knowing what kind of situation they would see when they open their store in the morning.

In response, the Chamber has assembled a piece on “The Economics of Addiction“, detailing how the economy is negatively impacted by things like this, while also including advocacy pieces for the various levels of government.

Vos is pushing for funding to come through for the intox, detox, and supportive housing facilities.

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She believes businesses can have a major role to play in helping those who are going through recovery, which is why their other ask is to get support from companies to provide employment opportunities.

“When people have a place to work and they have a purpose, it gives them that eight hours of focus a day, let’s say, and when they can go home somewhere and they can sleep and re-energize, then they can focus the next day and become creative and put something back into society.”

Vos met this week with Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf and spoke to him both about the initiatives they have been investigating and for securing funds for the city.

“He’s very excited about our policy, he likes the way it’s moving forward, and he’s committed to helping look at the situation, and you never want to set dates with the government, but possibly August 15th with some details.”

The Chamber is trying to firm up a time to speak with the City of Lethbridge about their advocacy, but due to the public’s interest in the matter, Vos said she was considering opening up the meeting to the public.

For any businesses who have been impacted by Lethbridge’s drug crisis, Vos is encouraging any entrepreneurs to come talk to her to look into what potential solutions might work for their specific situation.