Charlottetown council votes against supervised injection site

The City of Charlottetown is saying no to plans to create a supervised injection site near the Park Street Emergency Shelter.

During a special meeting Monday evening, councillors voted seven to three against a recommendation by the city's planning board for a temporary variance to establish the province's overdose prevention site at 15 Park St. for one year.

"I'd say it's probably one of the most toughest decisions I've made as a elected official," said Coun. Alanna Jankov, who voted no on the resolution.

"I focused on three key points when it comes to community impact and I looked at lack of planning, lack of responsibility and lack of meaningful consultation by our provincial government."

The site would have consisted of two combined modular units. It was originally going to be located at 33 Belmont St. — across from the city's main food bank — but during the spring provincial election campaign, the Progressive Conservative candidate for the district said it would be moving elsewhere, and Premier Dennis King later said that was indeed the new plan.

Alternative solutions questioned

The provincial government's intention was to let people use the facility to take drugs they obtain themselves, with the centre supplying kits for them to test their drugs for the presence of dangerous substances such as fentanyl.

The site would have been run by PEERS Alliance.

"We have our unhoused, we have our mental health, we have our addictions and we all have to work together — community,  business, levels of government — everybody to try to look out for everybody," Jankov said after the special council meeting Monday night.

"Every day I would worry about those folks that are not in a good place. They are somebody's mother, father, daughter, brother, sister, husband, partner… It's a crisis."

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During a chaotic public meeting last July, many residents voiced concerns about the operation potentially being situated at the Park Street Temporary Emergency Shelter.

During the council meeting on Monday night several councillors suggested the province look at a roaming mobile unit to deliver supervised injection services across P.E.I. Jankov agreed that the province should look at that option, but she isn't sure how it would work.

"I don't know enough. I am not an expert," she said.

"All I can say is that if we can find a path forward, then that's a great thing, but I don't know logistically how a mobile unit would work."

During the meeting, Coun. Bob Doiron told the rest of council that people who live near the Park Street Temporary Shelter are having issues with trespassing, property damage, discarded needles and public drug use. Saying he worries setting up a supervised injection site would worsen issues in the area, he voted against the site.

If we do nothing, nothing is going to change, in my mind.— Coun. Norman Beck

Coun. Norman Beck was one of three councillors to vote in favour of the site along with Coun. John McAleer and Coun. Terry Bernard.

"If we do nothing, nothing is going to change, in my mind. And we will get more of the same — potentially worse, I'm not sure. That's a big question. No one knows," Beck said during the council meeting.

"I don't know. I don't have 100 per cent conviction that I am doing the right thing here tonight in supporting the OPS," or Overdose Prevention Site.

In the absence of a long-term provincial plan to address addiction, Beck said he wanted to give the province the one-year variance to see if things improve.

Legal challenge?

Coun. Terry Bernard presented a motion to defer the decision on the supervised injection site, but that was voted down by council.

"I think the concerns were that we are consolidating all these services at one site," Charlottetown Mayor Phillip Brown said after the meeting.

"It doesn't matter where it goes, there will be issues brought up by… residents may be living in the immediate area or in the surrounding area."

Brown acknowledged there could be challenges to the decision.

"Our legal counsel made it very clear the issue must be focused on land use. Now, some of the discussion tonight was more about the emotional part of it, more about what residents think about it. Land use is what the planning act dictates," he said.

"Will the government of Prince Edward Island appeal this to IRAC, the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission? I'm sure that that's a possibility."

Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador are the only provinces without a supervised injection site.

There were 36 accidental opioid-related overdoses in P.E.I. in 2022, four of them fatal, according to the province's website. Numbers for accidental or unintentional overdoses involving opioids do not include those that occurred as a result of intentional self-inflicted harm.

Shelter's variance extended 

On Monday, city council also voted to let the Park Street shelter operate in its current location for one more year.

The extended variance permits two modular buildings with 25 housing units each — as long as the province meets conditions outlined by officials from city police, fire, public works and the P.E.I. Housing Corporation. One of those conditions includes making sure there is an operating sprinkler system in the shelter by Oct. 13 when the initial permit expires.

The province opened the shelter last December as a temporary solution to homelessness in the city.

"I think the majority of the council said we need to continue this process because winter is coming," Brown said.

"There is already an Ontario court, superior court, ruling that states very clearly if the government cannot provide housing, the unhoused, the homeless, or the roofless can use green spaces, parks and so forth."

The location of the shelter has also been controversial, with some residents in the area saying they want it moved elsewhere. Doiron and Coun. Mitchell Tweel voted against the extension of the shelter's variance.

According to the province's website, the 50-bed emergency shelter had 88 per cent occupancy during the month of July, up from 85 per cent in June. Numbers have not yet been updated for August.