Overview

• Council voted 6-3 to defer Coun. Ian Thorpe’s motion to ask Island Health to close the supervised consumption site next to city hall
• The Albert Street site has logged more than 113,000 visits since December 2022 and offers witnessed injection and inhalation with rapid medical response
• Mayor Leonard Krog backed the deferral to balance the site’s life-saving impact against growing resident frustration over nearby street disorder
• Municipal staff earlier proposed a $400,000, 1.8-metre fence to address violence and disorder around city hall, but council rejected the plan
• The deferred motion is expected to return in the fall after hearings with Island Health and other stakeholders on disorder-mitigation measures