Abbotsford mayor calls for ‘forced incarceration’, highlights fires at homeless camp

The mayor of Abbotsford is making a new call for mandatory incarceration and treatment to become an option as a response to some people living on the street, in cases where they are endangering themselves or others.

Henry Braun is highlighting a homeless camp underneath and alongside Highway 1, just west of Sumas Way, which has seen three dozen fires so far this year.

The latest fire happened this week, and the mayor says there’s a need for immediate provincial action.

There have been 215 cases of what the City of Abbotsford describes as “homeless incidents” involving the camp, including overdoses, medical aid requests, and requests for public assistance.

Abbotsford mayor calls for mandatory treatment

Braun argues compulsory treatment for drug addiction has to be among the options available to address the instances involving unhoused people.

“This is a very vicious circle and I really believe, and the mayor’s caucus has talked about this — there’s not unanimity here, so I don’t want the public to think that all 13 mayors are for this — but we need some forced incarceration if I can say it that bluntly,” he said.

Braun went on to say he understands not everybody will be on board with this. He also suggests many politicians are afraid to talk about this option publicly.

“This is probably the first time I’ve been as vocal about it in public, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re headed out the door,” Braun said, referencing his imminent departure as mayor.

“I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we have to have some hard decisions in the public square without people going ballistic … That’s not helpful to any of this. We’ve been on this road for five or six years, where we saw a steep increase in drug overdoses,” Braun told CityNews.

“I have watched people on our street that I’ve known for 10 years. They’re not the same people. They can’t make the same decisions. They don’t even know what day of the week it is. How are we helping them by just turning them repeatedly loose into our community to fend for themselves, when the gangs and the drug dealers are right there to grab them and extract as much money as they can out of them when their welfare cheque [arrives]?” he added.

“This isn’t a humane society,” Braun continued. “We have to do better. It’s going to take all of us getting in a room, probably not with the media there — with all due respect — so we can actually say the things that we’re thinking about because so many politicians are so afraid to say what they think, which is why I think you’re seeing quite an exodus of mayors leaving. The pressure they’ve been under, including physical threats, over the last three years, is incredible.”

Advocates disagree with mandatory treatment

However, not everyone supports Braun’s suggestions.

Josh Burton with the Cedar Outreach Society, which works with some of the community’s most vulnerable people, argues mandatory treatment has a higher chance of leading to relapse.

“People who have successfully completed treatment have done it of their own accord,” Burton told CityNews. “Being forced into treatment situations and then leaving that treatment, it opens up the door for relapse and overdose quite easily.”

Burton says the risk of an overdose death can be higher when somebody tries to consume drugs at the same level they did before treatment, as their tolerance for various drugs may have lapsed.

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Beyond a call for forced treatment options, Braun feels the province should provide funding to faith-based groups.

“I think they should look at that and consider it,” Braun said. “There [are] thousands and thousands of volunteers who will help, most of them are seniors, but they will help, as opposed to — if you want to pay for this, that has enormous financial impacts on the provincial budget.”

In terms of provincial action, the government plans to fund an extra 60 supportive housing units at the city-owned Riverside site. It also bought the Red Lion Inn and Suites last summer — which is providing 28 supportive housing units — but Braun believes more needs to be done — and faster.