THEVOICE | 2 THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018 | EDITOR NATALIA BUENDIA CALVILLO Funds cut mid opioid crisis VCH replaces society supporting DTES Indigenous youth = By BECCA CLARKSON cut in funding for health services for Indigenous people in the Downtown Eastside couldn't come at a worse time, given the state of the opi- oid crisis, say local service providers. In an at- tempt to pre- vent that, Lou Demerais of Vancouver Na- tive Health Society organized a community meeting at the nd¢a>mat ct Strathcona Branch last week to bring members from different agencies together to brainstorm ways to keep providing essential services for Indigenous people amidst contracts and funding they say is being lost this year. “If nothing happens as a result of people getting together to or- ganize services such as the ones we provide, these things will soon be things of the past,” Demerais said after the meeting. “They'll be token ser- vices offered through the health authority that won't get the job done.” Watari Counselling and Support Services Soci- ety, a non-profit that’s provided services for at-risk youth, adults and communities since 1986, WATAR services for youth struggling with addictions in east Vancouver, say staff. Youth counsellor Gabriella An- derson said the cut in funding was abrupt and reminiscent of last year’s funding cut to Watari’s trans sex-worker support group. According to health author- ity spokesperson Carrie Stefan- son, the youth program is not ending, but is simply being redesigned and supplied by an- other provider in response to feedback from received 50 per cent of its fund- ¢oynserunea support Youth clients and ing from VCH last year — a total of $1.3 million. But a cut in funding for Watari’s Youth Day Treatment Program, which before closing at the end of this month will have been running for 20 years, has widened the gap in families. “We found that a contract with our current provider for a day program serving youth facing multiple challenges such as mental health, addictions and trau- ma needed to be redesigned to bet- SERVICES SOCIETY ter serve clients’ needs,” Stefanson wrote in an email. WATARI'S HISTORY VANCOUVER, B.C. 1986 Founded due to lack of community support services on the East Side 1989 started the Youth and Family Alcohol and Drug Strategy in the DTES. 2008 Received community outreach funding by the City of Vancouver and grants from the Law Foundation of B.C. 2018 Youth Day Treatment- Program cut and different provider is put in charge SOURCE: WATARI.CA Low-cost Following heated hearing, Port Moody approves affordable housing units = By PERRIN GRAUER ousing advocates are thrilled at Port Moody city council's approval of a development that will bring new affordable rental apartments to the city for the first time } in three decades. Stephen Bennett, CEO of Affordable Housing Societies, said the 50 afford- able units would be a welcome addition to Metro Vancouver's housing supply, given the severity of the housing crisis facing Metro Van- couver. “Tt's awesome that they started with 50,” Bennett said. “I would hope that as time progresses they would add more because they're cer- tainly going to need them, but 50 \ = ; - t = = : ' (eize 3 } - rentals coming after 30 years is a great start.” However, the approval came af- ter a heated, four-hour public hear- gions biggest development com- panies. Dozens of Suter Brook residents ing last week, _ _ raised —con- during which cerns that community “yy packing more opposition to It Ss awesome that they people into the proposal started with 50 " their neigh- was fierce. ° bourhood The region's — STEPHEN BENNETT, AFFORDABLE HOUSING would in- average —va- SOCIETIES CEO crease traffic cancy rates — and put stress have hovered below one per cent for years, while in the Port Moody area, rent increased by an average of 11 per cent in the past 12 , months. Wi The = de- —— velopment that was ap- proved rep- resents the last phase of the Suter Brook master- planned communi- oe 2 te bis Lo, a ty, designed “4 by Onni -, > Ja fretind on city amenities like the library and recreation centre. ‘The original proposal for the site included 1,250 units in two six-storey buildings and one 26-storey tower, the final pro- posal — tabled last November , — included an amend- ment to add 222 units to the total, _ offering the city an extra $15 million Stephen Bennett '" “den- CEO, AFFORDABLE sity bonus HOUSING SOCIETIES payments,” along with 26 standard rental apartments, and 50 affordable units. Chris Staddon, a Port Moody resident and member of the community planning | advisory committee, worried | the move had would an un- healthy precedent for future proposals. But Jeff McLellan, another Port Moody resident and also a member of the community planning advi- sory committee, argued the Onni’s inclusion of affordable apartments and a $15-million bonus meant Port Moody was getting a good bargain for a small increase in den- sity. eis a ae — = —- i | Architectural rendering of the Suter Brook 26-storey towers project to be located at 300 Morrisey Rd. Port Moody. courresy oF city PoRT MooDY Atlarge Young school trustees needed New Westminster school board to recruit new student members = By JENNIFER WILSON tudents should have a voice on S the New Westminster school board next year, according to the district’s associate superinten- dent. And that kind of inclusion, rec- ommended by Karim Hachlaf, on school boards is something that student trustees elsewhere are sup- porting. Hachlaf told a recent meeting of trustees in New Westminster that the addition of one or two student trustees, with a third position des- ignated specifically for an aborigi- nal student trustee, would ensure that students are more involved in the decisions made at board level. “There is no question that our school district, can and should, benefit from providing a structure for student voice at our board and committee meetings,” Hachlaf said in a written submission to the board. Three B.C. dis- tricts already have student trustees on their boards. Vancouver, Victo- ria and the Sun- shine Coast dis- tricts each have a slightly different Karim Hachlaf process for elect- ASSOCIATE ing and including SUPERINTENDENT, dent > NEW WESTMINSTER student represen= scHool DISTRICT tatives. Holly Na- than, the New Westminster school board’s communications co-ordina- tor, said in an email that the board has heard Hachlaf’s recommen- dation and is now considering his proposal. “The topic has been a source of rich conversation in our board meetings.” Eugene Jeoung, the current Van- couver school board student trustee, believes that school boards across the province should go a step fur- ther. Jeoung wants B.C. to adopt a system of student representation similar to Ontario’. There, each school district has a student trustee who is part of a student trustee as- sociation which, in Ontario, has al- lowed for province-wide organiza- tion of students to lobby boards on various issues. Jeoung, along with the Sunshine Coast student trustee, Pearl Deasey, is preparing to present a motion to the British Columbia School Trustees Association. Laurie French, president of the Ontario Public School Boards As- sociation, said that student trust- ees in Ontario are a vital voice on district boards and that their input allows board trustees to communi- cate in relevant terms with students as well as to understand what items students want prioritized in bud- gets or, more recently, how students want schools to handle cannabis legalization.