October 15, 2022

We don’t have a Downtown problem.  It’s a problem that is now affecting every part of our community from the Hart to Heritage, the Crescents to Miller Addition, and College Heights to University Heights.  The issues are complex and encompass our friends, family, and neighbors.  It includes our children.  There are no easy solutions because they are unhoused, suffering from mental health challenges, or dealing with addiction issues. 

 I believe it is important to provide a handout to those who are facing these challenges so that their basic needs are met.  I had my children join me to help at St Vincent’s when they were young so that they understood the importance of assisting those in need.

 Sadly, over the last four years this problem has dramatically increased.  It is affecting every community in our province.  We can no longer wait for the Province to fix this problem.  Our city has faced complex issues in the past and found Made in PG solutions.  That Made in PG approach resulted in a university being built here.  Because we refused to say “it can’t be done here” and chose to tackle things with our Made in PG attitude, we now have a cancer clinic, Kordaban Lodge, and the Northern Medical Program.  

The only way things change is if we provide people with a hand up, out of the cycle they are living in.

Unfortunately, we do not have a women’s treatment facility in our city.  Worse yet, we have no way to offer that hand up to the youth, our children, who have ended up falling victim to drugs and addiction.

 Sensible Solutions:

• The only way things change in our city is if we can give people a hand UP to get out of the situation they are in. Currently we have no treatment facilities for women or youth in our community. The Youth Containment facility (just up the hill from the Regional Correctional facility) is one of only two left in the province and houses just a handful of incarcerated youth. I believe we should ask the Province to transfer them down to the Burnaby facility and convert this underutilized space to a Youth Treatment Centre.

• There is more than 300 acres of vacant land next to the Youth Containment facility. I see an opportunity for the City to acquire that land and rezone it so that that it can house a women’s treatment facility. The next step would be to partner with the Province and an agency such as Westminster House in New Westminster to be provide this much needed service.