Around a dozen protesters outside Kamloops City Hall gathered on Dec. 14, 2021, to show their support for a drug treatment centre within the city, but outside of the urban centre.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops city council defeated a notice of motion that would explore a drug addiction recovery centre in a rural area within Kamloops.

A notice of motion brought forth by Coun. Denis Walsh proposed the city engage with B.C. Housing to study the feasibility of a treatment centre in a less populated area of the city.

The long motion left other councillors confused about its goals and they were concerned about the language used to generalize complex mental health issues. It was met with a litany of questions and criticisms.

"I can't support any part of this motion," Coun. Sadie Hunter said at the Dec. 14 council meeting. "The language throughout this is dehumanizing and it generalizes a really complex issue. I can't in good conscious support any of it. It perpetuates stigma and it's not a constructive approach."

The motion did not name a location, but a property in Rayleigh was heavy on the minds of council, as the idea of a wellness centre has been lobbied for by local business owner Reid Hamer-Jackson for over a year. The mayor, who once called the suggestion "utopian," took issue with the motion itself as proposed by Walsh.

"We tend to bundle street affected populations as all being criminal and addicted to drugs and having mental health problems, and I caution us from doing that," Mayor Ken Christian said. "Maybe the public can do that and get away with that, but we as council has a higher duty of care. I urge us not to lump everything all together and make the assertion that we can use one solution to make everything go away."

A city does not build housing or treatment centres, so concerns about what city hall can actually authorize to instigate a treatment facility posed an issue for some councillors.

"We have to understand this is beyond our capacity," Coun. Dieter Dudy said. "We are not unsympathetic to the issues that are out there... but to go down a path we know we cannot finish seems fruitless."

Inspired by Honour Ranch, a recovery centre near Ashcroft for emergency workers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, this treatment centre is proposed to offer drug users a space outside of the urban centre, where the could be health care and social supports to re-engage people who are struggling with addiction with society.

Around a dozen people showed up in front of Kamloops city hall yesterday to show their support for the drug treatment centre proposed within city limits.

Darpan Sharma, who is a moderator for a Facebook page, Kamloops Citizens for Change, showed up to support the motion.

"If we say we're a first world country and have universal healthcare, this should be an option," he said, adding that the treatment centre, as he saw the proposal, should be a publicly funded option for people with addictions.

"This shouldn't be mandatory in a free country, but a facility like this should be an option," he said.

While mental healthcare, addiction services and supportive housing should fall under provincial bodies and Interior Health, Sharma believes council's vote would send a message about where the city stands on recovery for people with addictions.

The Citizens for Change group has a membership of about 3,000, and is outspoken on social issues that the city is currently facing. 

South Sahali resident Leah Knowles joined at the protest to voice her support for the wellness clinic.

"It sounds like a really holistic approach," she said. "Apparently B.C. Housing has all kinds of money to buy up hotels to house people is one thing, but the people who really need help and want help, then there should be something better."

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