Pubdate: Thu, 08 Dec 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Authors: Matt Robinson and Nick Eagland
Page: A3

VANCOUVER CONSIDERS LARGER TAX HIT TO HELP FIGHT GROWING FENTANYL CRISIS

The fentanyl crisis could soon hit the pocketbooks of every homeowner
in Vancouver.

City councillors are poised to consider using a 0.5-per-cent,
property-tax increase to create a $3.5-million contingency fund
intended to combat the growing crisis. That's in addition to the
city's previously reported 3.4-per-cent, property-tax increase, which
will be voted on next week.

While Vision Vancouver councillors and those on the front lines of the
fight against fentanyl said the increased funding was much-needed,
Non-Partisan Association councillors attacked it as a calculated
distraction from rising taxes.

City staff don't yet know where the extra money raised by the tax
increase will be spent, according to a memo to councillors from
Patrice Impey, the city's general manager of finance, risk and
supply-chain management.

"As it is difficult to anticipate the future needs for 2017 as the
crisis may continue, increase or moderate, it would be prudent to give
flexibility to staff and council in determining opportunities as they
arise … " Impey wrote in the memo.

Listed among the areas that could receive funding are mental-health
support for front-line workers (up to $130,000), educational programs
for youth ($200,000), additional outreach workers ($65,000 per
position), a community policing station ($200,000 a year) and an
additional three-person Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services medic unit
($1.8 million for 24/7 coverage).

Also listed was $50,000 for increased street sweeping and flushing,
and $250,000 for low-barrier work cleaning up discarded needles. That
spending is in addition to $3.8 million in new public cleanliness
initiatives already included in the broader budget.

The incoming cash would boost council's contingency funds from $4
million to $7.5 million.

Non-Partisan Association councillors criticized the last-minute
increase, stating that cash could have been found elsewhere in the
$1.3-billion budget, noting that it's not just a municipal issue, and
questioning the timing of the news. Coun. George Affleck charged that
the new funding - which didn't appear in the draft 2017 budget
released last month - was intended to draw attention away from the
city's rising taxes and fees.

During the first 10 months of 2016, 622 people died from an overdose,
and, in about 60 per cent of those cases, fentanyl was detected.

Robert Weeks, president of the Vancouver Firefighters Association,
urged council to fund an additional medic unit, noting that call
volumes had doubled since last year.

"A third medic unit ... will have a direct impact on saving lives,"
Weeks said.

Fire hall No. 2 in the Downtown Eastside responded to 1,255 calls in
November, more than 700 of which were in response to overdoses, Weeks
said. Crews are on pace for 1,600 runs this month.

"That puts us at the busiest fire hall in Canada by a significant
amount," he said.

"This is the new normal. We don't look at this as a spike anymore.
This trend has grown from last year and it looks to only get worse.

"With the low cost, availability, of this drug, we expect these
overdoses to continue."

Without additional resources, firefighters' training, community
outreach and response times will suffer, Weeks said.

Sarah Blyth of the Overdose Prevention Society, which runs an
unsanctioned supervised injection site in the DTES, welcomed
additional funds to combat the overdose crisis.

She said it's prudent that more front-line staff are trained to use
the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone and respond appropriately to
overdoses in general.

"All of the front-line staff are really pushed to their absolute
limits," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt