Vancouver mayor disappointed by new location for overdose prevention site

Advertisement

Advertise with us

VANCOUVER - The mayor of Vancouver says the city is disappointed about the new location of an overdose prevention site in the downtown core.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/04/2024 (921 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER – The mayor of Vancouver says the city is disappointed about the new location of an overdose prevention site in the downtown core.

Ken Sim says in a news release that the city was not consulted on the relocation of Thomus Donaghy OPS to Howe Street, and the site should have been moved to the nearby St. Paul’s Hospital instead.

Vancouver Coastal Health said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the site had officially opened at its new location on the 1000 block of Howe Street, though there is no signage.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. The mayor of Vancouver says the city is disappointed about the new location of an overdose prevention site in the downtown core. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. The mayor of Vancouver says the city is disappointed about the new location of an overdose prevention site in the downtown core. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

It says Thomus Donaghy OPS initially opened in March 2021 but the lease for its Seymour Street location expired last month.

The health authority says daily visits to the site are up 150 per cent since it opened, and it has reversed more than 200 drug overdoses.

Sim says that despite his surprise, he appreciates that there are several factors that must be balanced when selecting locations for overdose prevention sites.

“We look forward to learning more from Vancouver Coastal Health about how they plan to operate this site in a way that provides these important services while mitigating impacts on Vancouver neighbourhoods like Yaletown,” Sim says in the release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2024.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Chopped trees will leave a ‘blight’ on Windsor Park

Kelly-Anne Riess 3 minute read Preview

Chopped trees will leave a ‘blight’ on Windsor Park

Kelly-Anne Riess 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Robert Gordon has watched the trees grow along a popular Windsor Park walking path for nearly six decades.

Now, as Manitoba Hydro cuts them down to protect nearby power lines, he says a familiar part of his childhood neighbourhood is disappearing.

Although he no longer lives in the area, Gordon regularly returns to walk or cycle along the tree-lined path, which runs parallel to Archibald Street.

He was concerned when he recently spotted crews clearing vegetation near the entrance to the path, but initially assumed they were removing brush. When he returned, he discovered the clearing had extended farther along the corridor.

Read
Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Puppies, stocks — ‘zoomies’ abound

Andrew Froese 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

This spring, I adopted a three-month-old rescued German Shepherd mix. To say she is easily excitable is an understatement.

It is not really her fault. A puppy’s frontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps with decision-making and impulse control, is still developing. When an older dog, or a human, gets tired, we generally understand we should rest. Puppies have not quite figured that out. They often interpret tiredness as a signal something is wrong, which makes them more alert, more reactive and harder to settle.

That creates a feedback loop. The puppy gets tired, which makes her frantic, which makes her more tired, which makes her even more frantic. Eventually, this becomes what people call the “zoomies”: frantic sprinting, biting, jumping and general chaos.

From the outside, it looks like the puppy has too much energy. In reality, the opposite is true. The zoomies are not a sign of excess energy. They are a sign the puppy is overtired and does not know it yet.

Protein crests current appetite wave

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Protein crests current appetite wave

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Holiday feasts often reflect the latest fads and trends influencing how we eat.

This Thanksgiving’s table is likely to feature more Canadian content than it might otherwise as a point of national pride.

In the recent past, the carb-free craze has made cauliflower a substitute for the mashed potatoes on some family spreads. Some have gone meatless, while others have added more. Still others offer gluten-free, dairy-free or fat-free alternatives.

Nowadays, it seems consumers can’t get enough protein. Desmond Sobool, deputy chief economist Farm Credit Canada, told a recent economic update for the agri-food sector there are two converging influences in play.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Final hurdles are moving on in your mind and life

Maureen Scurfield 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I just ran into my former husband with his new woman. It was a shock. She looked nothing like me — not nearly as good. In fact, she’s the opposite of me — red-haired, freckled, tall and skinny like a rake. I’m short, dark, with golden skin from my Italian background. That was what my husband used to say he loved in a woman.

Does that mean he lied — that he really didn’t like my looks and secretly longed for the opposite? That seems crazy to me. But I should mention that in our last miserable years together he didn’t even want to hold me in his arms and look at me. He sometimes slept at his office (or so he said) because he was “too tired to drive home.”

He could have been elsewhere — like in some other woman’s home — because he always used his cellphone to call me, not his office line.

How can I forget about the man I loved so much and finally move on?

Person killed in workplace accident at Fairmont construction site

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Person killed in workplace accident at Fairmont construction site

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Emergency responders were on scene and Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health is investigating after a worker died following an incident at a Winnipeg construction site Thursday.

Little information about the worker killed was provided, but the fatal incident happened at the Fairmont Winnipeg, located at 2 Lombard Place, with police responding around 5 p.m.

The hotel is currently closed and is an active construction site. The person killed has not been identified by name.

Information from a provincial spokesperson said the deceased was working for Kepsco Construction when they were fatally injured after a “portion of an overhead canopy collapsed during asbestos abatement work.”

Read
Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Police looking into robbery of children captured on video

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Police looking into robbery of children captured on video

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

The Winnipeg Police Service said it is aware of a video circulating online that appears to show two children robbed while walking home from the library.

The mother of the siblings said the Sept. 26 incident, which happened in the area of Andrews Street and Magnus Avenue at around 7:30 p.m., has left her children afraid and her feeling guilty.

“I should have been there with them. I felt horrible,” said Brittany Beaudet. “I would have been out the door if I knew any sooner to help them out.”

In the 40-second video, the two children, 14-year-old Mason and nine-year-old Kenzie, are approached by a man wearing a black shirt, black pants and white shoes.

Read
Friday, Oct. 9, 2026