Ms Fiona Wilson:

It is a very sad situation, but the downtown east side has been a place where people who have challenges with mental health and drug use have congregated for many years. It sounds as though when the Deputy drove through, it was during decriminalisation. Officers walk the beat in that area and, historically, they would have walked up to somebody who was using drugs in an open way and told them to knock it off, that they could not do that there and that there was a supervised consumption site across the street, for example. They might have suggested the user head over there if they did not want to be arrested or have their drugs seized, and that was very effective.

In the wake of decriminalisation, as I mentioned earlier, police officers no longer had the authority to do that because with our decriminalisation, there was no ticketing regime and no requirement for an individual to seek pathways to health. It simply meant that the possession of 2.5 g or less was no longer illegal. Our police officers, before they approach individuals, do need to have lawful authority to do so, and if somebody is not engaging in behaviour that is criminal or unlawful in nature, there is no authority for our members to interact with them. It is likely that when the Deputy drove through, he was seeing the results of decriminalisation, where people were able to use on the streets with impunity and not have anyone with any authority being able to move them along.