Some city council members pushed back after hearing an update from Interior Health on mental health and substance use services in Williams Lake.
Karen Cooper, executive director of clinical operations for Interior Health West, was part of a three-person delegation from Interior Health (IH) at a regular council meeting at city hall on June 10.
She said Interior Health has spent $3.1 million in mental health, substance use and harm reduction services in Williams Lake since the start of the declaration of the toxic drug crisis in 2016.
But this amount and the services Cooper and the other delegation members outlined, clearly did not satisfy some members of council, specifically Coun. Sheila Boehm, who has been a vocal critic of Interior Health during her time on council.
Drawing attention to the increasing rate of overdose deaths in our region, which are higher than the rest of the province, Boehm did not hold back.
"As much as you recognize it, you're doing a crappy job – we all are," she said.
Pointing out the daytime-only hours for people to access many mental health and substance use treatment services, Boehm expressed more frustration.
"These hours are the dumbest thing I've ever seen," she said, noting some of the worst issues per capita are in the northern and interior of the province which have fewer supports.
Interior Health had provided an extensive presentation for council on mental health and substance use services in the community, with Richard Harding, chief operating officer for Interior North, Dr. Andy Delli Pizzi, medical health officer, Thompson-Cariboo, and Cooper, all speaking to mayor and council.
Cooper responded to Boehm's challenges to say IH is hoping to provide services over a broader range of hours and is also in the second phase of planning for a potential overdose prevention site (OPS) in Williams Lake.
"We've seen solutions that work and we think they would work for Williams Lake," said Cooper, noting community engagement is the next phase of their planning.
Delli Pizzi, and Harding both spoke compassionately about meeting people where they're at, and tried to focus on the statistics as representing real people.
But there were not soft words from Coun. Scott Nelson, who used strong language when discussing his desire to see involuntary care treatment brought to Williams Lake.
“We recognize that we have a number of frankly 'crazies' out on the streets right now,” said Nelson. He disagreed with the points from Dr. Delli Pizzi and Harding on how the Mental Health Act limits the ability to force treatment on individuals due to its stringent protections of human rights.
“There are criteria that must be met for involuntary admission under the Mental Health Act (MHA),” said Delli Pizzi, who then listed off detailed criteria. He said this limits the use or broad application of involuntary treatment under the MHA.
Harding explained how many of the beds created for involuntary care in the province so far have been in custody type facilities like the provincial jail system. Competency assessments are always done in any cases of involuntary care, with reassessments required throughout the process.
Nelson continued to request involuntary treatment facilities be brought to the community or region, and spoke against an OPS in Williams Lake.
"I'm an absolute, no drugs man," said Nelson, who said he tells his grandchildren he'll spank them if he catches them around drugs. He accused the system of adding to the problem.
Harding said an OPS is not the sole solution to all people using drugs, but said they can help more people be able to feel comfortable seeking drug testing, safe consumption and enables access to treatment.
Nelson also later asked Harding if East Hasting residents are being transported to Williams Lake by health authorities.
Harding said not to his knowledge and suggested Nelson ask the RCMP if this was something they had any information on. Rathor also said he had been asking this question of other levels of government and had not gotten any confirmation people were being sent here from other jurisdictions.
Coun. Angie Delainey said the problem has developed over a long period and acknowledged it will also take time to fix.
"I understand the community's feelings of not being safe, I understand the frustrations," she said, then suggesting there are systems which need to be dismantled and put back together with a more modern approach.
"We're using drugs to fix our drug problem," she said. "All the time, pharmaceutical companies are just making money hand over fist."
She suggested IH bring some education and advocacy information to both the school system and business owners uncertain of how to deal with people under the influence of hard drugs.
Cooper mentioned the city's public perception as she responded to questions about staffing mental health and addiction services in the community.
"Recruitment is a community effort," said Cooper, noting it comes down to the community being seen as one that works collaboratively and having the reputation of the community be one where people want to live and work.
The IH update had provided council information on the current state of the toxic drug crisis in the health authority, what IH's strategy and services are and where they hope to go.
According to the statistics, the top cause of death for individuals aged 19-39 years-old in Interior Health in 2024 was illicit drug toxicity. For those aged 40-59, illicit drugs are the second most common cause of death.
Seventy-five per cent of those who died through illicit drug use in 2024 were men. More than half of the deaths from illicit drugs occurred inside a private residence.
First Nations people account for 17.3 per cent of the deaths due to toxic drugs in 2024, despite First Nations people only accounting for 4.5 per cent of the population within Interior Health.
The Cariboo-Chilcotin has seen a higher rate of drug deaths for their population compared to the rest of the province in recent years, with a spike in drug deaths in 2022 in our region.
Interior Health provided a chart of all of the substance use services which can be accessed locally, including harm reduction services, crisis response connections, addiction medicine consultation, adult and youth substance use counselling, adult and youth team-based care coordination, day-treatment for youth, physician and nurse prescriptions for opioid agonist therapy medications, and virtual addiction medicine clinic.
The bed-based services in the community include Gateway, located at the hospital, which has five beds available for short-term stabilization for detox. This service is normally available, with waitlists uncommon, they said. As well, Gateway has been tasked to take on the services lost with the closing of Renner House. Renner house, a detox facility with health care staffing, was operated by Axis Family Resources, which chose not to renew their contract with IH.
The Letwilc Ren Semec Centre is a bed-based service providing supportive recovery in the area, offering traditional Indigenous cultural values and supports. This facility is located at Esk'et (Alkali) but is available for anyone to access.
IH's presentation also included some opportunities they see for additional services to support people struggling with addiction, including a possible overdose prevention site and a long-term recovery support location.
According to the IH data, overdose prevention sites (OPS) reduce overdose deaths, reduce the number of discarded needles associated with illicit drug use, reduce the amount of visible drug use in a community, reduce needle sharing and therefore infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C, and increase the ability for people using drugs to access services and treatment options.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor expressed his gratitude to the delegation for bringing council the information and for their continued partnership with the city, noting his and the community's continued concern for mental health and substance use issues.
"We cannot achieve anything without your help," said Rathor, saying the council is "action-oriented."
Anyone struggling with mental health or addiction issues can call 310-MHSU (6478). Referral-based or walk-in services are also available Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 487 Borland Street in Williams Lake.
