Plans for a drug and alcohol treatment centre near Pemberton
and Mount Currie have hit a number of snags, among them the idea that it is
economically unfeasible at this time.
The treatment centre has its genesis in Winds of Change: A
Healing Vision, a 2004 report by the Pemberton/Mount Currie Drug and Alcohol
Task Force that came after the death of Ross Leo, a 15-year-old Mount Currie
resident, in an alcohol-fuelled beating in Pemberton.
Since then the report has resulted in the formation of the
Winds of Change (WOC) committee, a joint effort by the Village of Pemberton
(VOP) and the Mount Currie band of the Lil’wat nation. The committee is
investigating the possibility of establishing a drug and alcohol treatment
centre in the area, but despite a stated need for the centre it has yet to come
to fruition.
One of the problems, based on a recent feasibility study
initiated by the Winds of Change committee, is a lack of clarity as to where
funding would come from, according to Maxine Bruce, a Mount Currie band
councilor who holds the health and wellness portfolio.
She told
Pique
that the
Mount Currie band gets funding from the federal ministry of Indian and Northern
Affairs, as well as Health Canada, while the VOP receives funding from a
provincial source.
This, Bruce said, makes it difficult to see how funding could
come to a centre that would serve both the First Nations and non-First Nations
populations in the Pemberton and Mount Currie areas, as the centre is expected
to serve both.
“It needed to be looked into further because it wasn’t only a
First Nations and Inuit drug and alcohol treatment centre,” she said. “We
needed to find a solution for both of our communities, we needed to apply some
real dollar numbers.”
The funding, however, isn’t the only issue affecting plans for
a centre. There are also issues around where the centre would be situated, and
whether enough staff could be found to operate the facility.
“I think we’re experiencing limitations,” Bruce said. “As
simple as counseling, through social services and stuff like that, it’s been a
challenge.
”To staff such a facility could be challenging for
communities.”
When asked what kind of a need there is for such a centre in
the area, Bruce said it depends on one’s perspective.
A former alcoholic who’s been sober for about 19 years, she
said there are vast distances between the Mount Currie area and the closest
treatment centres.
“For myself, I’ve been on my healing path for about 19 years
now,” she said. “I would not want to leave home to look into healing because I
do have a daughter.
“It becomes larger amounts of money to get me to an alcohol and
drug treatment centre in Vernon, or in Williams Lake area, or there’s one on
Vancouver Island.”
The Winds of Change committee met in Pemberton on June 26.
Those present seemed very confident that there was a need for a treatment
centre in the valley.
“There’s nowhere to go, there’s no recovery house, there’s no
youth rec centre,” said Cedric Jones, alcohol and drug counselor for the Mount
Currie band, at the meeting. “When people are walking in the community, where
are you going? I don’t know, and usually what ends up coming up, you want to
get drunk? You want to get high?”
In addition to a treatment centre, Jones said there should also
be a recovery centre for people before they enter treatment.
“It takes about two to three months to get into a treatment
centre,” he said. “Some people are getting pre-treatment counseling in that two
to three months, and that’s a long time.
“We need another branch that reaches from Squamish, to
Pemberton, Mount Currie where people can just get some of that.”
For now, more work needs to be done to get the centre started.
The WOC is currently looking to a wellness centre that will soon be established
in the Paradise Valley area for inspiration as to how it can establish its own
centre, according to Bruce.
“I think the discussions are at that point, just talking about
it,” she said.
“We’re going to look at a number of areas, but we need to expand on what we’re looking at.”