Outreach centre tolerated drug use on premises before reversing course, minister says

P.E.I. Housing Minister Rob Lantz says the use of illegal drugs was at one point condoned on the grounds of the Community Outreach Centre in Charlottetown before the policy was reversed this summer. 

"Given the amount of open drug usage in the city at the time, I think that there was a decision made with good intentions to, I think, tolerate usage on the property of the outreach centre," Lantz said in the legislature Wednesday, in response to a question from Opposition leader Hal Perry.

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Lantz said the minister's office isn't responsible for operational decisions at the centre, and didn't say whose decision he was describing. The Salvation Army operated the centre on the province's behalf before The Adventure Group signed a contract to take it over as of April 2022.

On Wednesday, Lantz said it was "acknowledged that it was a very poor decision and it was reversed in due course…. The intention was to help reduce what was happening on the streets, in the neighbourhood, in the community."

Later he told reporters that the reversal happened during the summer, and that the current policy at the centre is "zero tolerance of drugs or alcohol onsite."

Variety of services provided

The province's website says the Community Outreach Centre supports Islanders experiencing homelessness with everything from laundry facilities to shelter bookings to applications for financial assistance. Many clients are struggling with mental health and addictions issues.

The centre has moved four times since it opened in 2020. Its current location on Euston Street is in a residential neighbourhood in close proximity to two schools.

Who in the heck thought that this was a good decision to have open drug use in a neighbourhood in a location that is in between two schools, at one of the busiest intersections in Charlottetown, across from a grocery and a gas station?— Interim Liberal leader Hal Perry

Residents who live nearby have expressed concerns about the conduct of clients of the centre as well as concerns for their own safety.

Recently the head of the Birchwood Home and School Association wrote to a standing committee of the legislature, saying school staff conduct regular sweeps to pick up "drug paraphernalia, used needles, crack pipes and condoms."

The government has applied to the city to be allowed to move the site temporarily to Park Street, where the province operates a temporary homeless shelter, while it works on a more permanent plan to support vulnerable Islanders.

The opposition Liberals have been calling for the closure of the centre.

On Wednesday, interim Liberal leader Hal Perry told reporters the decision Lantz described regarding drug use was "probably the most bizarre social experiment I've ever heard...

"Who in the heck thought that this was a good decision to have open drug use in a neighbourhood in a location that is in between two schools, at one of the busiest intersections in Charlottetown, across from a grocery and a gas station?"

Some clients 'deterred' by drug use

The province has acknowledged the site isn't working, and engaged an expert, Carlene Donnelly, to come up with a new plan to deliver services to vulnerable Islanders.

Lantz said it became clear over the summer, as the issue came up with Charlottetown council that there was a problem with open drug use "in and around the outreach property… we had to make sure that the operators at the outreach centre implemented a zero-tolerance policy for drug uses on the property."

Lantz said activity at the outreach centre was "deterring some people that perhaps could be using the service from being there, from accessing those services."

He said the new plan expected to arise from Donnelly's work will more narrowly focus the centre's services and the clients they're meant for.

"People who are actively using are also in need of support and assistance," Lantaz said, but added that those could be offered from another site.

We need to just be very focused on who we're trying to serve there, and make sure they feel comfortable showing up.— Housing Minister Rob Lantz

"In terms of the outreach centre's mandate, we need to just be very focused on who we're trying to serve there, and make sure they feel comfortable showing up."

Lantz said the demand for services from Islanders struggling with homelessness, mental health and addictions has grown substantially since the first iteration of the outreach centre opened in Charlottetown almost four years ago.

"We're trying to respond as appropriately as we can as the situation has escalated and evolved," he said.