By Chad Klassen

North Shore BIA concerned about ‘fixed’ locations of mobile injection sites

Mar 15, 2017 | 12:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — After Kamloops City Council unanimously endorsed the concept of two mobile injection sites on Tuesday, the North Shore Business Improvement Association is concerned about the mobile site being in two fixed locations on either side of the river. 

One of the sites will be at ASK Wellness on Tranquille Road, the other at the Crossroads Inn on Seymour Street, an ASK Wellness-run facility. 

The North Shore BIA, which found last year that 77% of businesses were against a supervised injection site, has been more receptive to a mobile site. But it still doesn’t feel it’s very mobile. 

“When we talked about a mobile service, that interested us. It won’t just be in one spot. Now it looks like they will be in one spot on Seymour, one spot down by Spirit Square. That concerns us,” says Executive Director of the North Shore BIA Steven Puhallo. 

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“One of the things we noted yesterday during City Council’s deliberations was some of the hard questions they were asking, putting conditions on it to make sure there’s good oversight. That really made us feel a lot better towards it. There’s still a lot of people worried about their jobs, their businesses, the value of their residential property, the value of their commercial property.”

Puhallo gives credit to Bob Hughes for bringing more confidence to businesses on the North Shore. Businesses have been impressed with the overdose prevention sites, which save nine lives in January, but their argument is why now the need for a mobile injection site.

“One of the questions [businesses] ask us and we ask IHA is, why do we need this extra site, why do we need this money going into these big motorhome, why is this needed. Why, why, why?” Puhallo notes. “That stuff we’ll be following up with Interior Health, because if you see one system that’s working, why are you adding onto something that no one is really sure about what effect it will have in the surrounding community. 

At Council on Tuesday, Hughes said that social justice shouldn’t come at a cost to the community, and if the mobile injection sites aren’t working in Kamloops, he would be willing to make changes to the sites or see them go.