Wednesday April 19, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 4:52 pm – April 20, 2023]
By Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
In the wake of news that a school-aged girl found a back of illicit drugs in a Nanaimo playground across from a school, today in the BC Legislative Assembly BC United Leader (BCU) Kevin Falcon pressed the BC NDP to authorize municipalities to ban drugs from use in public spaces just as cigarette smoking and consumption of alcohol are banned.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside kept repeating the importance of BC having decriminalized possession of small amounts of illicit drugs (arranged with federal approval) and reminded about an “entire continuum” of approaches to address mental health and addictions, but did not respond specifically to the municipal bylaw aspect.
Municipalities are autonomous:
BCU MLA Todd Stone said there is “chaos and social disorder everywhere” in BC. He said there is an “absence of education, treatment and public safety”. His claim is that the government is “obstructing” municipalities, “preventing local government from implementing those steps”.
“This is a reckless policy,” said Stone. There should be similar regulations to restrict drugs as there is for alcohol.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs says this: “Local governments are autonomous and accountable to their communities. They have the authority to choose how they administer and enforce their bylaws. The ministry does not have a role in reviewing these bylaws.”
Municipal support:
Whiteside said “municipalities have been there from the beginning” of seeking decriminalization of possession of small amounts of drugs and the various measures like availability of treatment beds. She said that she is pleased at the participation of school districts and municipalities in aiming to improve situations around use of drugs.
“We will continue to work with municipalities,” said Whiteside. She said that decriminalization does not prevent municipalities from making decisions about how they operate their communities.
Minister Whiteside noted that the District of Sicamous has recently developed a bylaw after engagement with the region’s medical health officer to determine “what the local conditions are, what the local issues are and what needs to be done”.
“We continue to work closely with municipalities to address issues as they arise,” said Whiteside.
Child’s know-how:
It might well be noted that the girl who returned home with what she had found in the playground — to ask her mother about it — was smart not to open the bag of drugs herself.
Update April 20:
BCU Leader Kevin Falcon said today in a media scrum that allowing use of hard drugs in public spaces “without the proper guardrails in place” sees BC “hurtling down the path of unintended consequences”.
He listed off a few guardrails as being more police, better education for youth about drugs, bylaws to prevent drug use in public spaces like parks and playgrounds, making rehabilitation available without stigma, and establishing a more comprehensive system of supports for people after they’ve been released from rehab.
