Quesnel City Council will pony up $87,600 for the clean team to operate through January of 2026.
This group is paid to pick up needles and other drug paraphernalia in the city.
Councillor Mitch Vik noted however that it was a reaction to a provincial program.
“I am voting in favour of this because frankly it’s critical, but understanding that this policy from the provincial government that we are reacting to and dealing with locally. Is there any hope of any provincial support in funding the clean team ?”
Northern Health does fund the Decriminalization Coordinator that looks after this team and provides outreach to individuals.
However, the cost of the clean team was covered by the province back in the day.
The Quesnel Shelter and Support Society used to operate this service between 2017 and 2023 with funding coming from a variety of sources.
The City then began operating its own team from 2019 through 2023 using provincial funding but that money is no longer available.
The City also topped up the Society’s program with $12,480 in January of 2023 to get it to the end of July.
Regardless, the vote on Council was unanimous.
Councillor Scott Elliott was among those in favour.
“I support this 100 percent, but I would like to have a conversation too about the potential of having some kind of detox centre or something in this area that’s going to make it easier for our citizens to partake in, so maybe that is something we can look into down the road.”
The program funds 68 hours per week of cleanup.
Peers make 20 dollars an hour working four hour days.
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