Injunction a setback for public safety
After months of urging from municipalities throughout the province, the British Columbia government announced that it would ban the “possession of illicit drugs within 15 metres of any play structure in a playground, a spray or wading pool, or a skate park” through the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act which was passed in November. This move was welcomed by municipalities province-wide, including Fort St. John, which, like many other BC municipalities, was working on a bylaw to address the public safety issue.
The Act was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024, even though the government had not yet established any regulations for its implementation.
On December 29, mere days before the Act was to take effect, the Harm Reduction Nurses Association was successful in its bid to have the BC Supreme Court grant an injunction preventing the Act from coming into force. The injunction suspends the Act until March 31, 2024, and was granted on the grounds that “in severely restricting public drug consumption, the Act would cause irreparable harm to people at risk of injury or death amid a public health crisis,” according to a statement from the HRNA.
Neither municipal nor provincial representatives in the North Peace are happy with the BC Supreme Court’s decision.
Mayor Lilia Hansen said that while the City of Fort St. John respects the legal process, “the recent temporary injunction granted by the BC Supreme Court on the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act is a setback for public safety across the province.”
“We’ve heard consistently from our residents and businesses that there needs to be balance between public safety and reducing the stigmatization of addictions and mental health issues to ensure a safe, thriving community,” she said. “Despite this, the City remains committed to exploring alternative solutions and will continue advocating for meaningful action from higher levels of government to address the complex challenges associated with substance use in our community.”
Peace River North MLA Dan Davies, whose party has long criticized the NDP government’s choices when it comes to handling the drug crisis, was a bit stronger in his condemnation of the court ruling.
“It’s unbelievable,” Davies said. “It amazes me that a court would rule to allow illicit drugs to be used openly in parks and playgrounds.”
“One thing we have been calling for since the NDP brought in this, was to have a straight across ban, no drugs in parks, playgrounds, or school yards. It did take a few months, but the NDP did bring that in, but now we’re seeing this ruling,” Davies said.
“I’m hoping that the government puts everything that they have in their power to overturn this. They’re not going to go back on the decriminalization, that’s something that when we’re elected that we’ll bring, and focus on recovery and such,” he said.
“It’s mind-boggling that we’re in this state where it’s fine to do illicit drugs in a park. You can’t have a beer, but you can do fentanyl.”
Rather than focussing solely on harm reduction, Davies says BC needs to focus on prevention, and education.
Alberta, he said, has become a model that jurisdictions around the world are looking to. This model is the brainchild of Marshall Smith, who came up with a plan based on a system of education, treatment, and recovery. When Smith first conceived the idea, he offered it as a solution to then-BC Premier John Horgan, who rejected the idea. Smith took his model to Alberta, which has since seen drastic improvements, including reversing their death rate.
“The harm reduction piece is one little piece of that model, but in BC it is the model – let’s just keep people hooked on drugs,” said Davies. “That’s where we’re at right because we don’t have the treatment, and that’s a shame.”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous the avenue the NDP are going down.”
Davies says that BC United has a plan, a plan which looks at what Marshall Smith did in Alberta, that gets people into recovery and back to being part of society.
“Part of that plan is institutions, but not the institutions of days gone by, it’s compassionate care,” he said. “In this day and age with the level of fentanyl, carfentanyl and the other stuff that’s even worse, people now have permanent brain damage from these instances, and they need support.”
“We have a lot of work ahead of us.”