This week, Councillor Marg Gardiner’s motion to seek the closure of The Harbour, one of Victoria’s only supervised consumption sites (SCS), did not pass.
The motion sought to have Mayor Marianne Alto write to the Province and Island Health in order to have the Island Health-run SCS, located at 941 Pandora Avenue shut down.
Gardiner first had this motion come before city council in a meeting on July 10th, but her colleagues voted to refer this motion to today—Thursday, November 6th.
The Harbour opened in June 2018 under a federal exemption, allowing for the supervised use of illicit substances. This exemption is currently set to expire in June 2027.
The Harbour provides supervised consumption for injection, inhalation, oral and nasal drug use so people can be safely monitored and treated immediately if they overdose.
Additionally, the site provides harm reduction supplies, harm reduction education and referrals to health services, addictions services as well as other social supports.
Substances can be tested onsite to detect contaminants such as fentanyl, and a mental health clinician is onsite during operating hours to aid those in need.
Gardiner states in her motion that The Harbour “has become a magnet for those addicted to drugs and for drug dealers who prey on the weak and ill among those encamped in our city.”
In this week’s committee of the whole meeting, Gardiner moved her motion once again, stating that she does not believe in having SCSs in Victoria.
Gardiner began by pointing to an incident which occurred in late July in which VicPD officers arrested an individual who was allegedly selling drugs to those in line to access The Harbour’s services.
Following her moving of the motion, Mayor Alto spoke, reminding council that The Harbour is “much more than a supervised consumption site,” as the facility offers numerous other services and supports to those afflicted with addiction or are unhoused.
“Supervised consumption is part of the continuum of harm reduction and recovery, and I think it would be probably a bit short-sighted for us to close that particular facility before there are sufficient and adequate other health services available—which there are not,” said Mayor Alto.
She added that the City is in constant communication with Island Health regarding The Harbour and its operations.
“We have suggested to them repeatedly, and in fairly blunt terms, that there is a much better management operational plan needed there.”
After a short conversation on the morality of having such a site and the lives that The Harbour saves through their work, the motion ultimately failed in a 7-2 vote. Just Gardiner and Councillor Stephen Hammond voted in favour.
