Drugs, Public Safety Among Issues BC Municipal Leaders Will Discuss Next Week

Some municipalities are calling on the province to implement complex care centres, saying the increase in overdose cases has led to brain damage among those addicted. This, they say, often results in organ failure, mental disorientation, decreased motor skills, and behavioural changes.
Another agenda item asks the government to allocate resources to improve access to mental health supports, drug addiction treatment, medical services and affordable housing. It cites the increasing pressure on fire departments to handle first responder calls, as well as the impacts of the opioid crisis and mental health issues.
A resolution put forward by the UBCM executives and categorized as a priority issue calls on the provincial government to fund the housing growth it has mandated.
“Local governments are increasingly taking on tasks that have historically been the responsibility of the provincial and federal government including providing lands and other financial supports for non-market and supportive housing,” proponents wrote, adding that municipalities have also borne costs related to medical emergency response and encampments for the growing homeless population.
Other resolutions directly target homelessness. One calls on the province to expand permanent and temporary shelters, and extend its current homeless reduction program, called Belonging in BC, beyond its “qualifying limitations.” Another asks the province to fund new dedicated shelters for asylum seekers –who, proponents say, are increasingly turning to them–to make space for the local homeless population.
Some municipalities request the province reevaluate its shelter system to address the “increasingly complex” needs of the homeless population, in part due to addictions and mental health, they said.
Forestry is also a focus, with some municipalities asking for timber rights–the ability to harvest and sell timber independent of land ownership–to be tied to local sawmills, even if they close. This would allow local communities to inherit the company’s rights to the timber harvested on their land, rather than the timber being taken elsewhere for commercial purposes.
To reduce vehicle crashes in the province, some are asking the government to expand its Intersection Safety Camera (ISC) program. With this, remote municipalities could see red lights and speed cameras brought to some of their high-risk intersections to “save lives and reduce injuries.”