By Chad Klassen

North Shore businesses overwhelmingly oppose safe injection site

Sep 13, 2016 | 12:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — In a survey conducted by the North Shore Business Improvement Association, 77 per cent of businesses are saying they don’t want a safe injection site in their neighbourhood. 

The North Shore BIA conducted the survery last month, with 224 businesses responding to the question: “Would you support or approve of a supervised injection site being located within the North Shore Business Area; particularly in the Tranquille Market Corridor?”

“We reached out to as many businesses as we were able to over the course of August once we saw the media reports saying this was being considered for Kamloops,” says NSBIA Executive Director Steven Puhallo, “Our business community is very concerned and worried about having a site like this on the North Shore, particularly in the Tranquille Market area.”

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Twenty-three per cent of business on the North Shore expressed support for the idea of a safe injection site, including Mike Ward, owner of Ruebin’s Diner on Tranquille. Ward says people gathered outside his restaurant on a nightly basis, and in the morning, he finds drug paraphernalia. 

“Hopefully a safe injection site would maybe alleviate that a little bit where the drugs are being used,” says Ward. “They don’t have to hide in people’s backyards and back alleys and corners. They can go to a place and do it properly.”

But the 77% against it are concerned about the “massing of services like this on the North Shore, and what the long term strategy and game plan is around this form of harm reduction.” Many businesses feel there are already enough social services on the North Shore as it is.

“We reviewed the results at our recent Board of Directors meeting and a lot of questions were raised.” says Puhallo, “We’re in discussion with the Interior Health Authority about getting more information on this controversial project. We will be working with them and other advocates around this service to bring information about it to our members.”

The North Shore Business Association will work with Interior Health and other community groups to help with public consultation and business outreach.

There has been no official word on where a potential safe injection site would be located.