CONSULTATION A CRUCIAL STEP

Nob Hill residents can't get a break.

Residents around the Victoria Crescent neighbourhood are fighting a
downtown scourge - drug dealers, addicts, prostitutes and the like.

Concerned residents have voiced worries about crack pipes being sold
by a legitimate downtown merchant.

Imagine their surprise when they learned their own tax dollars
supplied the same addicts with pipes for free - through a street
outreach nursing program.

Even more surprise when they discovered the free pipes have been
handed out, along with a few other 'harm reduction' items as a kit,
for five months.

The program itself could have merit.

Public health nurses say it's aimed at reducing the spread of disease
and it might well accomplish that goal. Whether the benefits outweigh
the cost is debatable.

In any case, at some point, shouldn't the community have known about
the program? Where was the community consultation? Why weren't people told?

A city report from 2005 recommends agencies work together to tackle
the linked issues of addiction, prostitution and homelessness, but
it's abundantly clear that isn't happening enough.

The nurses involved say the RCMP and health authority were told about
the pipe program, but the top public health officer for the region
didn't even know about it.

Neither did anyone from the city.

It's clear communication was lacking in this case and the breakdown
was felt most heavily by the neighbourhood.

A better effort is needed to ensure this sort of breakdown doesn't
happen again.

When working with issues that affect a whole community, members of
that community want and deserve to be kept aware of what's being done.