Supervised injection site may be moved from Belmont Street

A supervised injection site for Charlottetown may not be destined for Belmont Street after all.

A meeting was held at Birchwood School Wednesday night for nearby residents to voice their concerns. P.E.I. is in the middle of an election campaign, and all four of the district's candidates showed up, making the site an election issue.

PC candidate Tim Keizer said he has spoken with party leadership, the incumbent governing party that chose the Belmont Street location, and he was told the plan is to find a new site.

"It will not be going ahead," he said.

"We understand the need for a safe injection site and we will work together with our partners to find that site."

Hundreds of residents also attended the meeting. People were concerned about property values going down, the safety of children, increased drug use in the area and how users of the site would be monitored. Many were also concerned there wasn't enough public consultation before the site was chosen.

"Where that goes and what that looks like, we're going to require community engagement," Keizer said.

The provincial government has called the centre an overdose prevention site. People would be able to take drugs they have obtained themselves to the facility. Those drugs will be tested for the presence of dangerous substances such as fentanyl. PEERS Alliance was selected to run the supervised injection site.

Keizer didn't indicate what other locations are being considered.

"Where it's going to go, we have to look where it fits how it is going to impact the community," he said.

When asked why this wasn't announced earlier, Keizer said PC Leader Dennis King is "open to anything" being heard along the campaign trail.

All candidates running in the district agreed the property on Belmont Street is the wrong location. Government should have done more consultation with the community in the first place, said Green candidate Karla Bernard.

"I think it is disgusting," she said.

"The city councillor for the area, myself, have been trying to advocate for residents for months with not even a simple response. Not an acknowledgement to any emails, not an acknowledgement of any letter. Then all of the sudden at the last hour they swoop in and cancel this."

Government didn't plan or look into how the site would impact the community and didn't engage with residents in the area until a site was chosen, Bernard said.

"This is an example of a government who has no regard for the residents in Charlottetown," she said.

"We've been talking about this in the legislature for two years. That would have been a prime time to engage with people."

Barb MacLeod, Liberal candidate for the area, was always against the location, she said.

"It was the wrong location. It was from the very beginning and it continues to be the wrong location. They need to find a location that doesn't involve schools, daycares, families, recreational trails," she said.

MacLeod has spoken to community members about an alternative, she said, but did not disclose where that may be.

"Just because government isn't thinking doesn't mean the residents aren't. They are thinking and I've had probably have three or four really good viable, in the city, possible locations that should be considered," she said.

"I wish I could tell you, but I feel like it is too soon. I don't want people saying, 'No, that's not right for this, that's not right for that.'"

MacLeod said at the meeting that a safe injection site could be part of the Charlottetown Outreach Centre. Later in the week, she clarified that she'd like to see the Outreach Centre moved and injection services included with it.

NDP candidate Joe Byrne was expecting the Progressive Conservatives would make the site an election issue, he said.

"Of course I would be surprised if politicians wouldn't be here tonight because this is a political issue and the community did a wonderful job of coming together," he said.

"This is not the right place, but we need to find ways to adequately support our friends, neighbours, family members that are living with addictions. Keep their lives safe and find a way to build hope in people's lives."

Byrne is happy to hear the PCs backtrack on the supervised injection site, he said.

"It's clear when we try to impose a decision on people without consulting them we should not expect people to be happy."

CBC New spoke with residents at the meeting who said they were happy the site would not be located on Belmont Street.

CBC News also asked PC leadership to confirm it planned to move the site from 33 Belmont Street, but hasn't received a reply.