I’m writing on behalf of the many residents of Powell River who are exhausted — not by the people who use drugs, not by those experiencing homelessness, but by the fearmongering, the stigmatization, and the constant resistance to real, evidence-based solutions within our community.

Powell River has had enough — enough of moral panic being passed off as public policy. Enough of privileged voices pretending to speak for the entire community. Enough of ignoring the basic fact: harm reduction saves lives.

Let’s be very clear — this new shelter and overdose prevention site is a life-saving, necessary intervention. It’s not perfect. It’s not a cure-all. But it’s something, in a town where too many people have died from toxic drugs, and too many continue to sleep in doorways while being treated like garbage.

Families, children & elders- many other vulnerable people have no shelter in emergencies with rising rental cost.

What’s truly destructive isn’t compassion — it’s apathy. It’s the refusal to see people in crisis as people. To see those struggling with addiction not as criminals or burdens, but as neighbours, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers who deserve dignity and a chance.

We have faced heavy roadblocks in getting these neccessary services here & backlash.

We are tired of the misinformation campaigns that confuse services with crime, that demonize organizations like LIFT without evidence, and that advocate for recovery without ever supporting the infrastructure needed to get people there.

We are tired of the political games that pit public safety against public health — when we all know that they’re intertwined. We need safety nets.

We are tired of watching people die while others shout “not in my backyard” — as if pushing the problem away makes it disappear. It doesn't.

We don’t need more outrage. We need courage. We need leaders who will face this crisis with integrity and science, not with slogans and scapegoats and misinformation. 

It’s time for the City of Powell River to stand with all its residents — including those on the margins. To demand more wraparound services, yes — but to start by keeping people alive long enough to reach them.

Support this project. Push forward. Speak up. You were elected to serve the entire community — and that includes the vulnerable. We currently have no emergency shelter for the unhoused or a safe injection site, nor Foundry for the youth who equally need access to these services.