City of Vancouver says it won’t renew Yaletown overdose prevention site lease

A busy overdose prevention site (OPS) in Vancouver’s Yaletown will be gone by this time next year, and there’s no guarantee of a timely replacement site — advocates say that’s going to lead to more open drug use and more deaths.

In a statement, the City of Vancouver says it told Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) it wouldn’t be renewing the lease at 1101 Seymour, adding that the site has “proven unviable for sustained operations.”

ABC Vancouver City Councillor Peter Meiszner says he supports overdose prevention sites, but explains that the management of the Yaletown OPS isn’t taking responsibility for what he calls the “negative impacts” on the community.

“There have been issues with the queuing outside the site, camping, street disorder, cleanliness, drug paraphernalia, etcetera — as well as people in the neighbourhood not feeling safe walking by the site,” he said.

---

Read more

• City councillor calls on Vancouver to renew Yaletown Overdose Prevention Site lease

• ‘I’m not afraid’: Yaletown locals weigh in on injection site relocation lawsuit

• B.C.’s unregulated toxic drug supply kills 184 people in June

---

Vancouver City Councillor Christine Boyle says the Yaletown OPS was set up in 2021 because the neighbourhood had the highest number of drug poisoning deaths outside of the Downtown Eastside.

“What I’m calling for is for the mayor and ABC majority to renew the lease on the Yaletown OPS, until a better alternate site is found in the neighbourhood,” she said.

Overdose Prevention Society Executive Director Sarah Blyth says people who use drugs won’t necessarily go to other overdose prevention sites Downtown if the Yaletown OPS disappears.

“They won’t likely come to the Downtown Eastside – they’ll likely just die in an alley if there’s no site for them to go to,” she explained.

“They will be alone, they will use alone, they’re not just going to disappear, they will likely just die in an alley.”

In another statement to CityNews, VCH says it is disappointed by Vancouver’s decision not to renew the lease for the site when it expires in March of next year, adding that it’s been working with community members to address their issues with the site.

“Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is disappointed by the decision of the City of Vancouver to not renew the lease for the Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site when it expires at the end of March 2024 … We introduced a process to promptly address emerging issues, collaborated with community partners in the building, and made several operational adjustments,” reads an excerpt from VCH’s statement.

“Not having a plan is not acceptable from the city. The city should have a plan. They should have said, ‘We’re doing this, but we have a plan in order to move it so that we continue to save lives,'” said Blyth.

We need more services, not less services, pulling back services is not the way to go about it. Not having a plan is not acceptable from the city.” https://t.co/oOgabRbn09

— Sarah Blyth – Gerszak (@sarahblyth) July 25, 2023

Meiszner says he can’t guarantee there will be a new site by the time this one closes down, and deferred to VCH for any details on the search for a new location.

“That’s why they have until March 2024 to find a new site. And again, VCH is actively searching for locations,” he said.