Pubdate: Tue, 13 Dec 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Bill Cleverley
Page: A3

DON'T BOOST TAXES TO AID FENTANYL CRISIS: HELPS

Victoria shouldn't follow Vancouver's lead in considering property-tax
increases to cover additional costs associated with fentanyl
overdoses, says Mayor Lisa Helps.

"I think that by levying a property tax for something that is a health
facility takes the pressure off the provincial and federal governments
to provide health services," Helps said. "I don't think this is a good
idea."

Coun. Chris Coleman, however, is sure the issue will come up in budget
deliberations next month. "I know the mayor wasn't terribly pleased
[with the idea] because she thought it was giving an out to senior
levels of government. But if that's your logic model, then we
shouldn't be involved in homelessness," Coleman said. "But we are
because it's something that we see on our streets. We could make the
same argument with fentanyl."

"Of course we'll have to get into the discussion. Whether we actually
end up funding a strategy is a different question. But, yeah, it's not
just in B.C. It's not just on our streets. It's across the country
that municipalities are having to respond and communities are having
to respond," he said.

Vancouver is considering adding a 0.5 per cent property-tax increase,
raising roughly $3.5 million to be added to the city's contingency
fund of $4 million to combat the crisis.

The Vancouver Fire Department wants to hire 16 more firefighters for
Fire Hall No. 2, at the corner of Powell and Main streets, to help
deal with the fentanyl crisis.

Dustin Bourdeaudhuy, vice-president of Vancouver Fire Fighters' Union
Local 18, said his members are burning out due to an explosion of
overdose calls.

A year ago, Vancouver firefighters were taking approximately 500 to
600 calls a month, and were one of the busiest departments in Canada.
Last month, firefighters took 1,200.

Across the province, there were 622 overdose deaths from January
through October, compared with 397 in the same period last year.

According to the B.C. Coroners Service, 120 people died from
illicit-drug overdoses on Vancouver Island in the first 10 months of
2016. About 60 per cent involved the opioid fentanyl. By comparison,
there were 60 overdose deaths on the Island in all of last year. Last
week, the province announced it would open six government-sanctioned
drug-injection sites - including two in Victoria - without waiting for
legislative changes or approval from Ottawa.

B.C. provincial health officer Perry Kendall said the new sites are
bringing together in an indoor setting injection drug users and people
trained to administer naloxone - a drug that reverses the effects of
an opioid overdose.
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