By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Clean and Safe Downtown BRZ info session hears concerns from business owners, organizations

Mar 19, 2019 | 4:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The second “Clean and Safe Downtown Information Session” hosted by the city’s Downtown Business Revitalization Zone attracted a variety of business owners, organizations and representatives from the Supervised Consumption Site (ARCHES), Lethbridge Police, Fire Department, and the City.

Statistics presented by Jill Manning, Managing Directory of ARCHES, showed that since the SCS opened Feb. 28, 2018 until Mar. 10, 2019, there have been 1,764 emergency incidents including, but not limited to overdoses. Oxygen has been administered 1671 times, Naloxone 694 times, EMS has been called 298 times and police called 218 times. It is the busiest supervised consumption site in Canada.

Most of the substances consumed at the site are opioid-related (55.9 per cent), while Methamphetamines make up 42.7 per cent, and other drugs account for just under 1.5 per cent.

There have been 38,000 in-house services provided, including addictions counseling, wound care, STI testing, crisis interventions and housing supports. More than 8,000 referrals were provided for detox, residential treatment, mental health and addictions supports.

According to ARCHES’ statistics, needle return rates have increased from an average of 32 per cent in 2017, to more than 100 per cent in 2018. Manning says the facility takes in more needles than it gives out now, as addicts can get them from a variety of sources other than the SCS.

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The City’s Manager of Community and Social Development, Martin Thomsen also spoke to the crowd of several dozen about plans forthcoming like their Municipal Housing Strategy, to be released in early April, along with a Community Social Development Strategy.

“The number one cause of homelessness is drug and substance abuse… and so for example if people are homeless, if they don’t have a home, it’s almost impossible to address those root causes… and if we don’t, the problem just continues.”

Thomsen cited statistics and information the City has collected, which show 84 per cent of those who are homeless in Lethbridge come from other communities within the province, and 62 per cent of them arrived in the last five years.

Most in-migration has come from the Blood Reserve and the Standoff area, while 72 per cent of enumerated homeless are Indigenous.

During a question and answer period following presentations, the question of whether there would be any interim solutions for those who homeless was raised by a representative of a local soup-kitchen.

“On April 1, we’re going to roll-out an entire new homelessness system of care program and model,” said Thomsen. “It’s going to be a new model on how we address the homeless people in Lethbridge…We anticipate and hope that that’s going to have an impact, a very positive impact. And you know, you’re not going to see it within a day. Things like that take time and transition.”

Business owner Lou Mate Jr. also took to the podium to express his concerns about businesses impacted by negative behaviour on 1 Ave. and 2 Ave. S., and to ask why, if indigenous people made up a majority of those who use the SCS and who are homeless, weren’t there any representatives from the Blood Reserve or Pikanii Reserve at the meeting?

“My business backs onto the site (SCS). Just a couple of observations. We have representation from a lot of different people here. If 72 per cent or almost 75 per cent of the patrons of the site are indigenous, I’m wondering why don’t we have any indigenous representation? Now I see a good chunk of people coming and going out of that location every single day…that concerns me greatly. We seem to be shouldering a big responsibility or are being asked to shoulder a responsibility that is not necessarily, not totally our responsibility. We pay taxes on several different levels. Why don’t I see someone from Standoff, from Chief and Council? And from the Pikanii?”

Mate also asked whether the city had any plans to help those businesses suffering from lack of customers because of negative behaviour in the immediate area of the SCS.

“We have a problem in that neighborhood…people are afraid to come down there. Seniors won’t come down there, people with children won’t come down there. You know, it’s becoming a problem.”

“Certainly, Lou, 100 per cent agreed that this has caused an impact for the businesses around us. We don’t deny it. We see it too,” said Manning.

Manning explained that pulling so many people into a small area like the SCS, will result in more debris, garbage, behaviour and environment management issues.

“It’s an argument for dispersing services across a wider net throughout the community. Because rather than having 250 coming every given day to one facility, if we had five different sites that could act, and they each attracted 50 clients, then that means that the impact isn’t felt by one neighborhood the way that it currently is.”

Thomsen also addressed the concerns regarding a lack of indigenous representation.

“I have met with their council members and different groups and, ’cause I’m saying ‘you need to come to the table. You need to work with us.’ And they have responded well. We’ve got some work to do, but I agree with you. It’s our problem and we need to work together.”

The information gathered from the session will be passed on to City Council for its consideration in the future.

The Business Safety Education Program is one of 12 initiatives identified within the Downtown Clean and Safe Strategy to try and address a gap identified by the business community regarding information and/or education about what to do in certain safety and security related circumstances. It’s being funded by the Downtown BRZ, Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, LPS, and the City of Lethbridge.