Pathways to treatment and recovery are rooted in access to healthcare, including involuntary care for people whose severe addiction and mental-health disorders put themselves or others at serious risk
On Saturday, October 1,7 the people of Vancouver spoke with a decisive voice.
By margins of 68.6% and 68%, voters approved both questions in the Public Safety Plebiscite. They endorsed stronger bylaws to stop the open-air use of hard drugs, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and crack, in public spaces, and they called on the City to formally request that the Province establish a secure medical facility with acute voluntary care and more than 100 involuntary care beds for people whose severe addiction and mental-health disorders put themselves or others at serious risk.
This is a victory for Vancouver and for a pragmatic approach.
Residents across our city have been clear: they want safe parks, safe sidewalks and safe neighbourhoods. They want compassion that actually helps people get better, not policies that leave them to deteriorate in public. They want enforcement tools that work and treatment that is available when voluntary options are not enough. Today’s results confirm that these priorities are shared by a strong majority of Vancouver voters.
ABC Vancouver put these questions on the ballot because we believe residents deserve a direct say on the issues that affect their daily lives and the future of our city. We thank every Vancouverite who took the time to vote. Your message is crystal clear.
While the plebiscite is advisory, its outcome is not. The new City Council now has a clear public mandate to act. We urge Mayor-elect Pete Fry and the incoming council to respect the will of voters by promptly advancing both measures: strengthening municipal bylaws against open hard-drug use, and formally requesting that the Province deliver secure treatment capacity in Vancouver. As Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson put it in his victory speech, “I believe in public safety…and that those who need treatment actually get healthy in British Columbia.”
Public safety is not a partisan issue. It is the foundation of a thriving city. Vancouverites have now confirmed what they want. The responsibility to deliver it rests with those who will lead for the next four years.
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