Although Richmond has the lowest drug-related hospitalization and mortality rates in B.C. (per 100,000 people) and the Vancouver Coastal Health authority has no plans to establish a supervised injection facility in Richmond, Conservative candidates Alice Wong and Kenny Chiu have made the issue a top priority.
Wong said one of her top three priorities is to keep heroin injection sites out of Richmond, and one of Chiu’s first ads, via Facebook, noted, “there is nothing ‘safe’ about heroin.”
The Conservatives have quoted Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, stating he wants more safe injection sites opened across Canada.
Viola Kaminski, a spokesperson for VCH, stated the safe injection site in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has improved health outcomes for its patients.
"Supervised injection sites help connect marginalized populations to health care. These individuals do not access mainstream healthcare, so through places like Insite they are not only able to access harm reduction but can also connect with basic health care services," said Kaminski.
Wong was unavailable for comment via her campaign office.
Campaign manager Sacha Peter noted the Conservatives recently passed Bill C-2, known as the Respect for Communities Act, which requires a number of new regulations for safe-injection site applicants.
Critics have charged the Bill is prohibitive to creating new injection sites as it demands a long list of requirements, including community consultation, local police force consent and a study of community crime statistics.
Heroin overdose statistics from Vancouver Coastal Health:
|
|
Lions Gate Hospital |
Mount Saint Joseph Hospital |
St. Pauls Hospital |
Richmond Hospital |
Vancouver General Hospital |
Total |
|
2012/13 |
5 |
1 |
251 |
8 |
25 |
290 |
|
2013/14 |
5 |
8 |
375 |
13 |
30 |
431 |
|
2014/15 |
12 |
8 |
423 |
6 |
47 |
496 |
|
2015/16 |
10 |
2 |
291 |
9 |
38 |
350 |
