Victoria councillor’s attempt to shut down supervised consumption site defeated

Victoria Councillor Marg Gardiner once again attempted to have Victoria’s only supervised consumption site, The Harbour, shut down during this week’s committee of the whole meeting. 

The Harbour, located at 941 Pandora Avenue, is Victoria’s only formal supervised consumption site (SCS) run by Island Health. 

Island Health opened the facility 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 SCS provides supervised 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 and 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. 

In July of last year, Gardiner brought forth a motion with the goal of shutting down The Harbour. This motion ended up failing in a 7-2 vote after being deferred to a November council meeting.

Now, a second motion attempting to shut down the facility has failed. 

Gardiner said during the Thursday meeting that this is the “most consequential” motion she has put forward while on council. 

“How we respond this morning will shape the future of our city more than any issue we’ve dealt with in the past four years,” she stated. 

Prior to Thursday’s meeting Councillor Matt Dell had taken to social media calling on Victoria residents to email in to the mayor and council in opposition to Gardiner’s motion, which she brought up while motivating the motion. 

“My motion has been described by a fellow councillor as ‘reckless and cruel’—nothing could be further from the truth,” said Gardiner. 

She said that she believes the motion to be one of compassion for the unhoused individuals living along Pandora Avenue. 

“The Harbour has become a magnet for those addicted to drugs and for drug dealers who prey on the weak and defenceless,” said Gardiner. 

“The open use of drugs has created a climate of a cycle of self-destructive behaviour which can ultimately lead to a tragic end.”

She suggested that The Harbour needs to be shut down and could become a treatment centre instead of an SCS, though this direction was not included in her motion. 

“The key motivation of this motion is to improve the lives and futures of those sheltering along our streets and in our parks,” Gardiner claimed. 

Ultimately, her motion sought to have Mayor Marianne Alto write to the federal government and Island Health to recommend shutting down The Harbour. 

Councillor Stephe Hammond seconded the motion and instead of motivating further, he took this opportunity to ask Mayor Alto if any progress has been made when it comes to The Harbour since the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan was initiated. 

Alto replied that there had been significant conversations taking place between the City, herself and Island Health on how to improve the SCS on Pandora Avenue to make it safer for all involved. 

“We are hopeful that the conversations we are having with Island Health will create some significant advances in the coming weeks and months,” said Mayor Alto. 

“I would be remiss to think that accelerating or accentuating anything in particular at this time would add to that—in fact I think the risk could harm the progress that we’re making.”

After asking his questions, Hammond stated that he would not be supporting the motion. 

Councillor David Thompson noted that council received a high volume of emails from residents in opposition to this motion. 

“It is important to note who was opposed in those many, many emails, and that includes doctors, nurses, addictions researchers and people who live in the area,” he said. 

Thompson also spoke to alternative measures which are being taken, considered or could be taken in the future. 

“If the aim is to reduce the crowding and conditions out in front of The Harbour, a solution to that is to improve the space inside the harbour to accommodate more people and that is being done right now,” he said. 

“Another option is to adjust the space in behind the harbour and I know that’s been the topic of discussion for some time.”

When it came time for Councillor Dell to speak on the motion, he started by thanking all the people who took time to write emails to council on this topic. 

“We had 458 emails opposing this motion—probably the most emails we’ve ever received on any issue, particularly in a three-day time period,” he said. “That compares to 20 in support.”

He also noted that many who wrote in to oppose the motion had lost loved ones to the toxic drug crisis and are health care professionals. 

“On Friday we had 21 overdoses, on Saturday we had 23,” Dell read from an email from a registered nurse working in a Victoria hospital. “This is an incredibly dangerous time to be closing a safe consumption site.”

“My family has lived with addiction for years and I can tell you from this heartbreaking experience that when people are in the grip of substance-use disorder, they do not stop using because a service closes or because society wishes the problem away,” he read from another email sent to council by a parent of an individual with substance use challenges. 

Before calling the question on the motion, Mayor Alto noted that part of the city’s problem is that Victoria hosts the only SCS in the entirety of the capital region, even though the neighbouring municipalities have been called on numerous times to establish their own through Island Health. 

She also called on the Province to put more effort and resources into addressing the issue at hand in a meaningful way that will actually help those who are suffering. 

Ultimately, the motion was defeated in a 7-1 vote, with Gardiner being the only one to support her motion. Councillor Kim was absent from the committee of the whole meeting.