There were heated moments at a Richmond, B. C. , city council meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the option of building an admissions site at the city’s hospital.
Dozens of protesters opposed to the initiative rallied in front of City Hall and joined chants of “no drugs in Richmond. “
Chants continued in the council chamber, prompting Mayor Malcolm Brodie to pounce on protesters and call for calm.
NEW: Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie is lashing out at others protesting a proposed admission site after chants of “no drugs, no drugs” erupted in the public gallery. @CassidyMosconi will have a full report on @GlobalBC News at 11 heures. pic. twitter. com/WsmI3RMQg4
— Jordan Armstrong (@jarmstrongbc) February 13, 2024
“There will be no protests here, there is a way for you to give your opinion to the city council, and that is to put your call on the list and come to this headquarters and tell us what you are doing. “mind,” the mayor said.
“If you need to be part of this discussion and decision, then you will respect the process, it’s not some kind of theater or carnival, it’s a very solemn instance where we make vital discussions and decisions. . . Is there anyone who does it? Don’t you perceive this?”
Brodie then demanded that those in the gallery join in chorus to applaud speakers they approved or react against speakers they opposed.
Almost 150 more people signed up to talk in user and video call about the proposal.
If created, the site would give others a safe position to use ingredients and offer links to therapy or counseling services.
A move approved by the council last week called for exploring the benefits and demanding situations of implementing the site, which would be controlled through Vancouver Coastal Health.
However, the proposal was met with reluctance due to public protection concerns.
City Hall. Kash Heed, who received the proposal, said it made him a target of abusive emails.
“If you say those other people can’t use their drugs in public, where can they use them?” said Heed.
“Guess what? We give them a position where we can take them to care so they can consume their medications and, most importantly, save their lives.
More than 17,000 people have signed a petition against the creation of the site.
“The other people here in the crowd I’ve spoken to are willing to help, they need to help end the opioid crisis, but not in this way,” said South Surrey MP and BC United Mental Health and Addictions spokesperson Elenore Sturko. doors the meeting.
“They’re hoping that instead of having a secure intake site, they’ll focus on things like expanding support services, looking at things like recovery programs, and I think more inquiries could be really helpful. “
The Richmond City Council said in a statement that the resolution to open or operate a supervised intake site rests with Vancouver Coastal Health. If the board votes in favor of a site, it will be up to VCH to make a resolution if a site is in the interest of public health and safety.
BEFORE CHRIST. Health Minister Adrian Dix said Monday that supervised injection sites save lives.
“The evidence is that they are making a difference in communities,” he said. “The evidence is that they make communities safer. That’s not to say there’s rarely much debate. You have to do it when you do something that can be perceived as new and different, and it’s not new or different in our province. He wants to have interaction with the communities.
Dix added that supervised injection sites will have to go hand in hand with actions against the supply of poisonous drugs, against those who sell poisoned drugs in communities and with greater access to housing.