VICTORIA COUNCIL IMPLORED TO HAVE FIXED NEEDLE EXCHANGE SITES IN CITY

Victoria will continue to work with the Vancouver Island Health
Authority to try to improve harm-reduction services in the city in the
wake of a lengthy council session on the subject Thursday.

About 50 speakers implored council to ensure fixed needle-exchange and
supervised consumption sites are established in the city.

"We're continuing to keep this on the front burner," Fortin said
yesterday.

Fortin said council has asked city staff to bring in VIHA officials
for an update on the "distributed" model of needle-exchange services.

In that model, needles are distributed from multiple health authority
offices that are open to the public. "We recognize that's key to all
the other things we're working on. Having a robust distributed model
allows us to move forward because then you don't have the honey-pot
effect."

Victoria's fixed needle exchange on Cormorant Street shut down two
years ago after it was evicted in the wake of complaints from
neighbours about people loitering outside causing disturbances, as
well as discarded needles, human waste and litter.

Since then, mobile needle exchange services have been
operating.

The mass appeal to council to take action was organized by Harm
Reduction Victoria, which maintains that despite Victoria councillors
identifying harm reduction as one of their top seven priorities, the
city has actually lost ground because of the closure of the Cormorant
facility.

The group wants the city to provide a central property for a
harm-reduction resource centre that would include supervised
consumption services, needle exchange and counselling.

Ultimately, Fortin said, that's VIHA's responsibility and not an issue
about who is the landlord.

"It's not about having a city-owned site, it's about having the right
location -- the right location with the right supports in place to
make it work."

Harm Reduction Victoria also wants an end to the police and
VIHA-sanctioned "no-go zone" that restricts distribution of needles
and other harm-reduction supplies between Blanshard, Chambers,
Balmoral and Yates streets.

Fortin said it's a complex issue and progress has come more slowly
than some would like to see.

"But there has been movement and we're going to continue to play our
role as advocates and partners in this to make it move forward. But we
are committed to doing it right."