Pubdate: Thu, 15 Sep 2016
Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.pqbnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361
Author: John Harding

DEALING WITH THE DEALERS

The homes overlook Parksville Bay in what seems to be an idyllic
location.

Just below the sunny decks of the houses on Sutherland Place,
residents say illegal drug activity is rampant, constant and
destroying their quality of life.

A group of residents who met with The NEWS this week said they have
made hundreds of calls to the police - and almost as many to the city
- - about what's going on in the ravine and beach beside and below their
homes.

"I have seen them shooting up - a child of four found a needle down
there," said one resident, asking for anonymity because she fears
reprisals from the bosses of the drug dealers she sees who play their
trade in the bushes below her deck. "Thank goodness it had a cap on
it.

The residents describe an organized drug-dealing operation, complete
with lookouts on Island Highway. They say the dealing starts at 6:30
a.m. every morning.

"There are little kids they are dealing to," said the resident. "One
little boy looked about 10."

It's not only the drug dealing that has the residents concerned.
People are camping in the bush below and beside their homes. There's
the accompanying garbage and at least one resident has had items
stolen from the backyard. Those who are using or dealing drugs, and
others who may not be but are hanging out in the area, are also
getting a little too close for comfort for the residents, even taking
water from the taps on the outside of the houses.

"Now they are approaching our homes and that's scary," said another
resident, who also asked her name not be published.

The residents say they continue to call the RCMP and the city on a
daily basis.

"They (people in the ravine and bushes) either duck into the bush or
tuck their stuff away and hang out like they are just enjoying the
beach," said a resident. "They know the police can't get here in time."

Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Jess Foreman said officers have "been there dozens
of times." He said police haven't made an arrest related to drugs at
that location.

Foreman also said a senior RCMP officer attended the scene with Mayor
Marc Lefebvre and someone from the city's bylaw department and Foreman
said he believed a plan was in the works.

Booting people out of public spaces has become a little trickier since
the city passed a bylaw allowing camping in all but a few parks.

"Our authority to just kick people people out of a public park has
changed dramatically," said Foreman.

It's not clear if this location is in the "sensitive area" along the
Parskville waterfront where overnight camping is prohibited according
to a contentious bylaw passed by council in April.

One resident believes the city could help reduce the problem by
clearing some of the brush that provides the dealers and others with
cover. The brush in question is on city land between the high-tide
mark and the property lines of the residences.

Mayor Marc Lefebvre has spoken with residents and he has visited the
area at their request.

"We wanted to do some major clearing and we were getting ready to put
the tender out in June," Lefebvre said this week. "But the Ministry of
Lands and Forests wanted us to make changes. We didn't agree with
those changes."

"I (the clearing of the brush) would have been done. Everyone else
(other government ministries) said OK but not them."

Lefebvre said he will be raising this specific issue with Minister of
Lands and Forests Steve Thomson at the Union of B.C. Municipalities
annual conference later this month in Vancouver.

In the meantime, one Sutherland Place resident is starting to re-think
her contact with the users and dealers who ply their trade around her
house.

"I'm fed up with it so I go face-to-face with them," she said. "But my
husband is worried about my safety."
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MAP posted-by: Matt