Calgary councillor wants province to shut down Sheldon Chumir supervised consumption site

A Calgary metropolis councillor is pushing to person nan state unopen down nan supervised depletion site astatine nan Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre and activity replacement options for betterment services.

Coun. Dan McLean put guardant an emergency mobility astatine an executive committee gathering connected Wednesday morning, seeking assembly support to inquire nan Alberta authorities to adjacent nan tract and put successful different prevention, intervention, curen and betterment services and supports for group experiencing addictions and mental health challenges.

“Safety of Calgarians is paramount and it’s becoming much and much vulnerable arsenic each time goes by,” McLean said successful an question and reply pinch Global News earlier Wednesday’s meeting.

“This is what each nan citizens are saying. You conscionable person to locomotion by it. It’s conscionable not safe, they’re burning trees down, you’re stepping connected needles. So nan sooner we get this unopen down nan better.”

In anticipation of nan discussion, Mayor Jyoti Gondek sent a missive to Alberta’s intelligence wellness and addiction curate connected Wednesday morning, asking for nan province’s solution anterior to immoderate determination to adjacent nan site.

“Closing nan Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre supervised depletion tract without due alternatives will instantly unit those seeking support connected to nan streets aliases into their homes, driving up supplier poisoning deaths and creating unsafe situations passim communities successful Calgary,” Gondek wrote successful her missive to Dan Williams.

“It will besides create further issues, for illustration group utilizing narcotics astatine transit stops because they cognize officers are location to respond to overdoses.

“There must beryllium a broad scheme from nan authorities of Alberta to woody pinch intelligence wellness and addictions curen for Calgarians who desperately request supports, and that scheme must besides reside issues of nationalist information that person been observed pinch nan existing model.”

Global News has reached retired to Williams’ agency for a consequence to Gondek’s missive and will update this communicative erstwhile it is received.

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In 2021, nether erstwhile premier Jason Kenney’s government, the state said it would adjacent nan Safeworks supervised depletion site successful nan Sheldon Chumir centre, arsenic portion of a “city-by-city attack regarding nan location of supervised depletion services.” However, nan tract remains open.

In her missive to Williams, Gondek said astatine that time, she agreed pinch nan province’s appraisal that nan existing supervised depletion exemplary successful nan metropolis was not moving arsenic intended. Gondek was a councillor astatine nan time. She said Wednesday she still agrees pinch nan province’s 2021 assessment.

“I besides work together pinch nan position that much curen beds are needed, and was very willing successful your government’s musings successful 2022 to harvester addictions curen pinch supervised depletion sites, arsenic good arsenic different ways to amended entree to intelligence wellness and addictions support,” Gondek wrote successful her letter.

McLean’s mobility was carried 9-1. It will now spell to assembly for a afloat debate.

more to come…