GROUP-HOMES FIGHT IS FINISHED DUE TO NEW LEGISLATION

City councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt may be ready to spend taxpayers'
dollars to fight a legal battle in the city's right to control
alcohol-and-drug rehabilitation homes, but we're not sure every Richmond
taxpayer is prepared to hand over their hard-earned loonies.

This issue about group homes and how they are licensed just won't go away.

On one hand, it's great that Richmond city council has bent over backward
to accommodate those in the community who oppose to having these facilities
in their neighbourhood without consultation from the public. But on the
other hand, we think city council should work to come to a consensus and
settle this issue once and for all.

A Group Home Task Force was formed, but now that the provincial government
has made changes to the Community Care Act, the fight is pretty much over.
The bottom line is the city cannot single out certain group homes. It's
time to move on and not waste any more taxpayers' dollars.