The petition of the undersigned citizens of the city of Victoria, states that:
In light of the opioid epidemic, residents of British Columbia with Victoria and Vancouver being at the epicenter, are dying at a disproportionately high rate. Our loved ones are dying, often alone; due to the toxic drug supply and the stigma that still exists around substance use. Although not all substance users reside in homeless shelters, there is a large percentage that do. When a death occurs in these shelters and other supported housing units, the support staff at these sites are expected to support the clients with little to no outside assistance. These workers are also grieving the loss of the clients they have worked to develop rapport with, and have the privilege of going home after a shift to grieve. These workers have the ability to not come to work the next day, if their grief is too much to manage, and more often than not, these workers have access to friends, family, and other supports to help themselves through the grieving process. The clients living in these shelters and supported housing units do not. They rely heavily on the staff to support them. Due to the nature of frontline work, burnout is high in this field, and staff being hired in these positions do not need to have a counselling certification as a prerequisite. While support staff are an integral part of our homeless shelters and supported housing, they are also dealing with grief, and may not be fully qualified to help others process their own.
Your petitioners respectfully request that the Honourable House put in place crisis counsellors at supported housing sites and homeless shelters when an individual passes away at said site, for a two week period, every time.