PROGRAM DESCRIBED AS HAVEN FOR DRUG USERS

TERRACE CITY council will ask for more police patrols in a residential
area one resident says is busy with criminal activity.

Jennifer Lewis told councillors last night that a day program running
out of the All Nations Centre on the corner of Sparks and Davis is
attracting people who take part in drug activity and in disorderly
conduct.

The day program is run by the Terrace and District Community Services
Society which rents out the centre during the weekdays.

It started last December as a place for street people to get shelter
from the cold, and has quickly become a meeting place or community
centre for anyone wishing to stop in. Coffee and homemade soup is
offered, and social service groups have found it a useful place where
clients will speak with them freely.

But Lewis said there was no community consultation before it started
up, and said it is full of drug-addicted people and a haven for
criminal activity.

"They have opened up a..drug drop-in day use centre," she
said.

"Our neighbourhood has not been the same since," she continued,
explaining that it has attracted a lot of criminal activity; she's
witnessed public drinking, public defecation, people taking drugs, and
"so many drug deals we've lost count."

Lewis suggested that there were better locations for the day program,
citing the new emergency shelter on Hall St. or the old corrections
facility on the south side as some examples.

The current location is not a safe environment, she said, pointing out
that it is at the gateway of parks, recreation facilities, the
downtown core and is nearby daycares and schools.

She requested that council look into putting a bylaw in place so that
these kinds of facilities can't open without public
consultation.

Most city councillors sympathized with Lewis, and the matter was
referred to administration to see if it is even possible to put this
kind of bylaw in place. Council also agreed to ask the RCMP for more
enforcement in the area.

Councillor Bruce Martindale also wanted to clarify that TDCSS is
looking for another location; the day program will continue to run out
of the All Nations Centre until TDCSS can find its own location
dedicated specifically to its program.

Councillor Brian Downie conceded that it may not be the best location
for the program, but later said it may be difficult to hold community
consultations on facilities like this as most neighbourhoods would not
want it in their area.

"Public consultation, I suspect, is going to be a very difficult
process," he said.

Mayor Dave Pernarowski later said that while this is the first
complaint he's heard about regarding the day program, there are some
valid points that need to be addressed. He said administration would
be looking into if it is realistic to have such a bylaw, and the
information will be brought back to council.

The day program is separate from the Sunday soup kitchen which is run
by the All Nations Centre through a sponsorship from the Seventh Day
Adventist Church.