Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: City Manager

SUBJECT: Update: A Framework for Action - A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver (Draft Discussion Paper)

RECOMMENDATION

POLICY

Council has supported Coalition actions to prevent crime and improve drug treatment in Vancouver by granting various requests in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

PURPOSE

This report seeks to provide Council with an Interim Report on A Framework for Action -A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver (a draft Discussion Paper) and to advise Council and the public of a series of public forums occurring between January 29 and February 8, 2001 on this issue.

Background

On November 21, 2000, Mayor Philip Owen released a draft discussion paper called A Framework for Action - A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver, including prevention, treatment, enforcements & harm reduction. After more than two years of consultation with residents, community organizations, the business community, service providers and all levels of government, the City of Vancouver has drafted a discussion paper that proposed a balance between public health and public order.

The framework, built on a four-pillar approach, includes a range of actions to prevent drug addiction and to help those who have an addiction and need treatment. It also clearly states that public disorder, including the open drug scene, must be stopped. In short, addiction needs treatment, criminal behaviour needs enforcement.

Further, the discussion paper outlines how the City of Vancouver, provincial, and federal governments, as well as the entire community can address drug misuse across the city.

Since 1997, Coalition partners and the broader community from the business, health, education and social services sectors have discussed crime prevention and drug treatment at over 40 meetings and forums. These meetings, along with a sizeable body of research, have led to the development of A Framework for Action - A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver (draft discussion paper).

Vancouver's Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment continues to have a city-wide focus. Publication of A Framework for Action establishes clear recommendations for action balancing public order and public health in dealing with Vancouver's drug problems on a city-wide basis.

Highlights of 2.5 Years of Community Dialogue

… Vancouver's Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment established -October 1997
… International Symposium on Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment - June 1998
… Comprehensive Systems of Care for Drug Users in Switzerland and Frankfurt (MacPherson) - June 1999
… Community Crime Prevention Forum - October 1999
… Vancouver Agreement signed - March 2000
… Continuum of Care Forums - March-May 2000
… Vancouver Agreement Announcements - September 29, 2000
… Council Workshops re: A Framework for Action

… Council Report Reference - November 20, 2000
… Vancouver Sun series - November 18-December 2, 2000
… Release of A Framework for Action - November 21, 2000

Summary of A Framework for Action Consultation to Date

As was announced with the release of A Framework for Action, the City and Vancouver'sCoalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment committed to attend meetings by request from various communities, groups, individuals and organizations city-wide that wanted to have a discussion and give feedback on the draft discussion paper. The following is a list of these meetings to date:

Mayor's Forums

There have been six Mayor's Forums with Coalition partners:
November 16 (3), 2000
December 18 (2), 2000
December 19 (1), 2000
Close to 50 Coalition partners attended.

Public Forum Series Schedule

Six public forums have been scheduled for late January or early February. The schedule is as follows:

(1) Monday, January 29, 2001
Location: Alice Mackay Room, Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St, Vancouver
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Hosted by: Alcohol-Drug Education Service (A-DES)

(2) Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard St, Vancouver
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Hosted by: Anglican Diocese of New Westminster

(3) Monday, February 5, 2001
Location: Carnegie Centre, 401 Hastings St., Vancouver
Time: 12:00 - 1:30pm
Hosted by: Carnegie Community Action Society and Portland Hotel Society

(4) Tuesday, February 6, 2001
Location: St Mary's Church, 2490 W. 37th, Vancouver
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Hosted by: Durbar Community Association and From Grief to Action

(5) Wednesday, February 7, 2001
Location: Vancouver School Board Offices Boardroom, 1580 W. Broadway, Vancouver
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Hosted by: Vancouver School Board

(6) Thursday, February 8, 2001
Location: Empire Landmark Hotel, 1400 Robson St, Vancouver
Time: 7:30 - 9:20 am
Hosted by: Vancouver Board of Trade (please call 641-1248 to register)

Forums will be approximately 2 hours and will include an introduction by the Mayor, a brief presentation on A Framework for Action by Donald MacPherson, and a panel discussion and question and answer session facilitated by Judy Kirk.
Please see Appendix A for a flyer advertising the forum schedule. These flyers are also available through the City Clerk's office.

Regional Mayors' Forum

The Mayor's Office is working towards a Regional Mayors' Forum to take place in February 2001. There have been two previous Regional Mayors' Forums where Mayors get together to discuss common issues of importance to the Greater Vancouver region and to ensure balanced implementation of policies across the region.

Other Community Meetings by Request

… VANDU
… Together We Can
… Circle of Hope Coalition Society at Kiwassa Neighbourhood House Evergreen Community Health Centre Committee
… Liberal Health Committee Provincial Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS
… Broadway Youth Resource Centre
… Kelowna - City Managers (Judy Rogers to attend)
… Downtown Business Improvement Association
… Nisha Family Services
… Downtown Eastside Residents Association
… Cascadia Mayors Conference (Bellingham)
… Circle of Hope Coalition Society at Collingwood Neighbourhood House
… Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Ottawa)
… YWCA
… Neighbour to Neighbour
… Tillicum/Hastings Schools Parent Advisory Committees and Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
… Circle of Hope Coalition Society - community circles in the West End, Mt Pleasant and others
… Maharishi College
… Vancouver Agreement Partners and City of Vancouver staff
… Kiwanis Club of Vancouver
… Vancouver/Richmond Health Board
… School Board Trustees
… Park Board Commissioners
… Other community agencies, neighbourhood houses, youth workers, etc

Donald MacPherson has attended each of these meetings and has been accompanied by a resource support person to record discussion and feedback. These requests show an excellent response by the public to the Mayor's call for as many individuals and organizations as possible to review and discuss A Framework for Action.

Newspaper Insert

A 4-page newspaper insert has been developed for the Vancouver Sun. It appeared last week on January 26 in the Vancouver Sun and was circulated to 215,000 homes in the Lower Mainland. The insert summarizes the four pillars of prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction and outlines the goals and actions in A Framework for Action. The insert highlights some of the facts, trends, and costs of drug use in Vancouver and it includes a shorter version of the feedback form that is at the back of the draft discussion paper.

The Vancouver Sun has generously agreed to do an overrun of 10,000 copies for distribution to community centres and schools, and for use at the public forums.

Public Input Summary and Revision of Framework

All written input, feedback forms and meeting records collected during the Framework for Action consultation process will be summarized and analyzed by McIntyre/Mustel to ensure objectivity. By early March 2001, all feedback will be reviewed and the paper will be revised accordingly, prior to releasing the final paper in April 2001.

Attitude Survey

The polling firm, Joan McIntyre Market and Opinion Research, in conjunction with McIntyre/Mustel, conducted a telephone public opinion survey with a cross-section of 300 City of Vancouver adult residents in December 2000 regarding A Framework for Action - A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver. As quoted in the survey report, "it reveals overwhelming support for many of the goals and actions contained in the recently introduced Draft Discussion Paper, A Framework for Action, A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver."

Key findings include:

… Awareness

… Support for the Framework for Action Major Goals

Support for Selected Actions from the Framework for Action
… A substantial majority of Vancouver residents, ranging from about 66% to 90%, indicate overall support for each of the eleven actions measured in the survey that were selected to represent those presented in the discussion paper. It is clear from these results that City residents widely favour taking these actions to deal with the City's drug problems.

… Reaction to the Four-Pillar Approach for Drug Misuse

… Support for the Downtown Eastside Health and Safety Initiative

Joan McIntyre will present the poll results to Council in a powerpoint presentation and the poll is attached to this report as Appendix B.

Multilingual Consultation

A summary of A Framework for Action was translated into Chinese in November 2000 and was available at the November 21 news release. The entire paper has now been translatedin Chinese and summaries of it are also available Punjabi, Vietnamese and Spanish. Special outreach and focused discussion is being coordinated with the multicultural communities to get their input and feedback on the discussion paper.

The newspaper insert is also being translated into Chinese for the same release date of the English version in Ming Pao and Sing Tao.

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Link to Appendix A

Link to Appendix B

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