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

A Vancouver city councillor is calling on her counterparts and Mayor Ken Sim to renew the lease of the Yaletown Overdose Prevention Site until a new location can be found.

According to OneCity, Vancouver informed Vancouver Coastal Health on July 19 that it would “not be in a position to renew the lease” for the Yaletown OPS, located at 1101 Seymour Street. The lease is now set to expire in March 2024.

“The city signed a lease with Vancouver Coastal Health for the space back in 2021. At the time, Yaletown, the Downtown South neighbourhood, had the highest number of drug-poisoning deaths outside of the Downtown Eastside. So, it was really clear that there was a critical need for this life-saving health facility in the neighbourhood,” OneCity coun. Christine Boyle told CityNews.

RainCity Housing, which runs the Yaletown OPS’ day-to-day operations, says on its website that it moved the facility to the neighbourhood from St. Paul’s Hospital “to have more space and provide services to more people.”

The site was named after Thomus Donaghy, a peer worker who died in July 2020.

Boyle says closing the site would put lives at risk, adding it’s imperative an alternative is found before the Yaletown location closes to prevent any gaps in services.

When the Yaletown OPS – named after Thomus Donaghy – opened in 2021, the neighbourhood had the highest number of drug poisoning deaths outside the DTES.

Across Vancouver more than 3,000 residents have died since the drug toxicity public health emergency was declared in 2016. 2/4

— Christine Boyle (@christineeboyle) July 24, 2023

Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed to move the supervised consumption site. The civil suit sparked a range of opinions among locals.

“This is a problem that needs to be taken seriously. I’m calling on Mayor (Ken) Sim and the ABC majority to renew the lease until we have a new site, so that we’re not leaving our neighbours to die,” Boyle said Monday.

OneCity says the city’s letter to VCH last week “made no mention of an alternative site in the Yaletown neighbourhood having been located,” adding the city only committed to working with the health authority to “[find] locations to site key health services” in Vancouver “as feasible.”

ABC coun. Peter Meiszner posted a copy of the letter Monday. In a tweet, he says he has “been working — since elected — to ensure the operators take accountability for the negative impacts on our community.”

“City staff have stepped up with additional funds and resources to mitigate the negative impacts on the community and the adjacent Gathering Place, but the operator has refused to take responsibility and issues continue. As a result, this location’s lease will not be renewed. While I support harm reduction and safe injection sites, they must come with appropriate wraparound services, care and support, and management of the public realm,” he wrote.

Dear #Yaletown neighbours: an update on the future of the OPS at Seymour & Helmcken. As many of you know, I have been working—since elected—to ensure the operators take accountability for the negative impacts on our community. City staff have stepped up with additional funds and… pic.twitter.com/FImFxBmtC5

— Peter Meiszner (@PeterMeiszner) July 24, 2023

In its statement Monday, OneCity called Meiszner and ABC Vancouver out specifically, claiming they have “repeatedly” and “publicly [indicated]” that “they would keep the OPS in Yaletown open until another suitable location in the neighbourhood was opened.”

“I think it would be a significant mistake, it would cost lives,” Boyle said of the city’s decision to close the facility.

“This is a badly needed health service. It’s keeping our neighbours alive in the midst of a drug-poisoning crisis.”

In April, the province marked seven years since a public health emergency was declared over the toxic drug crisis. Since the declaration, 12,509 people have died, the BC Coroners Service said Wednesday, July 19.

The petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year claims the Yaletown OPS has affected residents living in the area, with allegations of assaults, break-ins, theft, open drug use, presence of human waste, and general disturbances reported.

However, Boyle says she believes taking the OPS out of the neighbourhood would have even more of an impact on everyone in the area.

“Right now, at least people have a safe place to go to. If we lose that space, more people who don’t have somewhere … to go and get that health support that they need, I think the impacts would be much greater in the neighbourhood. So we should keep this space open — but, absolutely, we should find a larger space where people can not only access the health services but also have some space to gather and rest … so it’s reduces the need for people to be gathering out on the street,” she explained.

Related articles: 

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

• Criticism of B.C.’s drug policy as the province marks 7 years of the toxic drug crisis

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

Sarah Blyth, the head of the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS), told CityNews “the crisis continues to get worse.”

“I would just suggest that this is going to increase death,” she said.

“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.”

Blyth previously told CityNews while she understands there are challenges that come with having such a facility in the community, “if you take it away, more people will die — and that’s just a fact.”

Blyth said at the time the easiest solution would be to find a new location for the OPS to go to, adding that there needs to be a collaborative effort to find a new spot.

Meanwhile, Boyle notes the city is currently paying the monthly cleaning and security costs for the existing site. She feels the province needs to step in with funding moving forward to “support those pieces” to ensure these kinds of facilities “are well-integrated into neighbourhoods.”

-With files from Michael Williams