That Council direct Staff to contact Island Health to discuss the potential for locating the Hub at 250 Albert Street and report back to Council.
speak. Aren't you, I think again. There we are. Oh crap. Once more with feeling. So I know that we have informally discussed this before. And I know we have received informal answers that no, it's not the right time. But just because we've asked before, I don't think it's, um, a reason that we shouldn't be asking again. The situation is more critical than it's ever been. Um, I think island health needs to be approached formally given that this proposal was brought forward. I saw from what I read, it looked really good to me. And I think it's, um, it's worth asking the suggestion that, um, potentially the MLA was involved in this discussion. Like I just think it's the right thing to do to, to formally approach island health and say, look, this is being talked about. It's being brought to council. Um, it just makes sense to me to formalize this and have a real discussion about this because the need is urgent and the community partners are here and ready to do the work. And we need to move forward on this. So I hope that we can at least support asking and discussing
then Council Manley. Thank you, worship. I am seconded this because I don't think it's a problem to formalize, but I do firmly feel that staff have been involved in the conversations leading to tonight's presentation. Um, so this is not a surprise. And this is a collective effort. However, I agree with Councillor Easmir having a formulasque isn't bad. And then we'll get a formal public report back. Um, I do want to say though that if, um, it would carry clout of the MLA we're here also asking to have the island health building. You know what I mean? Like there could be a different process here that would have a little bit more political weight to it.
Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions through you, your worship. One, like looking through your report, uh, need for a permanent hub. It says that the shelter component supported 400 unique individuals and more than 1600 people have been turned away due to insufficient shelter capacity. I would guess that those are not unique individuals, but that's just the number of people that have been
go into anything further. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Manley. Yeah. Thank you. This, this is just a report. And I'm actually curious about, um, MLA Malcolmson, uh, and the minister of poverty reduction, um, suggesting that organisations come to us to provide a letter of support for a building that's owned by the province. Um, you know, there, there's a more direct route here. And I'm not sure why that's not being taken. I would like to see a more dispersed model in our community. I don't want to see a concentration of services in our downtown area. Um, because at the revitalization process that we're working on. So I would like to actually see process where we see, you know, more of this happening in other parts of the community. We have homeless people from the south end to the north end. And there's no reason why services should be concentrated in this area. But I think it's, it should, you know, let's get a staff report and let's, uh, let's see the MLA take some action on
Guesserbrock. Uh, thanks Mayor. Through you. Just the community delegation requested for council to endorse a proposal to BC housing in the province. Um, for funding for that location. And, um, I'm just thinking like there has been conversations with island health, but I do think the strength of the proposal would be if there was endorsement from council for a proposal to BC housing. BC housing would be approaching island health. And there'd be much more provincial involvement in ownership over this process. And so I do feel we're kind of missing a bit of a step in terms of actually moving this forward. I think, you know, just talking to island health again, we'll get a similar response and then we'll come back here. And then we'll be asked for endorsement again. Um, I think it would be worthwhile to receive a report from staff on just the viability of the location and considerations around this before council provides endorsement. But, uh, I, I've been involved in understand that the very long search for location and it's extremely possible to find it. And really what comes down to is that a lot of these locations don't have enough resourcing to actually do the renovations to make them up to snuff. And, um, and actually have the provincial involvement in supporting it. And so, uh, I think we need to start somewhere. And this is a very reasonable location given that the people just outside with nowhere to go using the injection site anyhow, that it's good. But I do have a little concern that, um, the current motion might not be advancing this. That, but if it does occur, if it does concur with a stop report back to council for consideration of an actual endorsement of this idea so that we can have a community proposal going to BC housing to actually, um, see if there's going to be funding available. That would be a real ask then eventually to island health to actually use the site. Um, so, uh, I can support this motion, but the things that need to be done in the background actually advance this, uh, further to an endorsed proposal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'm going to support the motion only because I want to have a report back from staff where BC island health rather tells us to pound sand or whatever. And also to give the community opportunity to respond to suggestion that a permanent facility be established downtown with great respect. We at City Hall and by that I'm referring to the staff in particular have already suffered some very negative consequences to put it mildly, uh, from individuals who are using the overdose prevention site now, uh, and, um, I do not want to see us endorsing any site in this community. Uh, without some serious consideration and opportunity for community response. So on that basis, I'll support the motion to get a report back. But I am not in any way endorsing tonight the location at 250 Albert Street, Councillor Manley's words are ones I agree with. Concentrating services in one place leads to exactly what the downtown east side looks like and a place where quite frankly there doesn't appear to be a lot of success after decades of significant expenditure. Uh, the motions
into the situation where they've already been trying to do this. It wasn't able to be done. And now we're coming back and asking them to talk about it again. However, the difference for me this time is that apparently our MLA has stood up and said, go ahead and ask the council. That's a good sign. If that's the case and she believes that there's an opportunity, maybe there is. And that's the only reason why I would support it today. That I agree with everything that Councillor Manley has said. But if we can get. Even a semi - permanent hub just to get a sue the next
Manley. Thank you. Have you approached Island Health about this?
And if so, what have they said? We haven't, but apparently, um, they have been approached and we didn't get a positive response. But we've let them know that we are going to be moving further ahead. I guess I can say who told us to put this forward. Um, we went and met with, um, our MLA, she, uh, Malcolm. And she suggested that we put this proposal forward. Okay. I mean, I think one piece that is really positive in my mind in this is that it's provincially owned. And so any renovations that are done are put back into the province as opposed to someone privately who owns a building. So that's just my take on it.
Thank you. Well, I appreciate you bringing this forward. Um, I really regret that we are having to close the hub at the end of this month. Um, I know it's a model that, um, many of my council colleagues believe in exists because we saw the need for something like this. And it's just really unfortunate that that location really wasn't suitable. And I've been scared about someone getting hit on the highway there just because of the safety risk. And so I'm, um. Very sad that we don't have a location for it to move into right now. And I'm glad to see, um, this proposal come forward. But without that island health piece, it leaves us in a bit of a awkward spot because they're a really important partner that would really have to be on board with this. So, um, I have a motion that I, after, um, the delegation, I'll suggest it, um, yeah, thanks
Councillor Gesselbrock, then Councillor Madden, please. Thank you, Mayor. Through you, thank you for the presentation and all the work that you've done with the hub and moving this project forward. I really appreciated looking, hearing about the potential location at 250 Albert. I think a lot of people have been looking at that spot and seeing that it could resolve a lot of the issues that were experienced on Victoria Avder. And I'm just curious, uh, with the proposal that's being made with the province, the challenges that were experienced on terminal avenue in terms of some of the trouble managing the disorder outside. With this location and the new service model, how will this, those challenges be addressed to sort of mitigate, um, and make this long -
term sustainable. Don't tighten that. Um, I mean, I can answer that as best as I can. I mean, I think that, uh, you know, with a stable infrastructure with having a stable space with being in with having stabilized funding, we can invest in those kinds of things to be able to provide the support that's needed to contain, um, you know, guests and shelter people in the spot that they're at, providing, as we have already through the daytime services, uh, really great programming, et cetera. When you're constantly, you know, working off the side of your desk trying to find space, trying to do all of these things. It makes it really difficult. However, we do have the systems already in place to be able to medicate some of the dangers that we saw outside of the hub and not all of those dangers would be present in a different location. You have anything to add, Violet?
My question is, um, I understand staff has been looking to find a relocation for the hub for quite some time. Have you shared your plans with staff so that they know what they're at? Because to me, they're already looking to try and do this. So I don't know why a new motion would even be required because our staff has already been directed to try and find another
location. Yes. We've been working with city staff to find