Not In My Backyard
Whether it is a small town or a big city, when there is an application to rezone something in a residential neighbourhood, it seems everyone has the same reaction. Not in my backyard. Whether it is a women's shelter, a transition home for refugees, a half-way house for newly released prisoners, or a group home for adult developmentally challenged, it doesn't seem to matter, no one seems to want it in their neighbourhood.
It almost always plays out the same way. A community group forms and opposes the rezoning to their local government. Their argument is usually the same, that their property values will go down or putting "these people" in the area makes a risk to the community. The other side points out that this venture will bring increased employment to the area and increase revenue to the local government in increased property taxes. The government approves the rezoning. There is hard feelings for a while. After a few years, it is all forgotten as the fears don't materialize.
In my neighbourhood, a battle is occurring over a proposed addiction treatment centre. The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is one step away from City Council approval for the sale of land for $1.00. The building and land which is proposed has been out of use for several years.
The story of this proposed recovery centre is worthy of noting. Bruce Oake was a young man battling addiction. He went to treatment and was doing well, but, as often happens with addiction, he had a relapse and died of an overdose.
He was part of a loving family and as a testament to this, the family want a treatment center with hopes that it will prevent another family from experiencing a loss.
It is an incredible love story and requires the family to live their private pain publicly as they try to establish this legacy. They are exposing their lives to scrutiny from a judgmental public. They are not benefiting in any way other than trying to help the community. In fact, pursuing such a dream must be causing them great exhaustion.
They are proposing a 50 bed facility using a holistic approach to treating addiction. The website contains a wealth of information noting that for every $5 spend on treating addiction, that $95 is spent on incarceration. The proposed facility would be modeled after a facility in Calgary.
At first, opposition to the facility from the neighbourhood focused on fear. Fear of having people suffering from addiction in their neighbourhoods, fear of "these people" smuggling in drugs or burglarizing their possessions in order to sell them for drug money. These ignorant assumptions were quickly quieted. As a treatment facility, there would be less substances on hand than there would be at a 7-11. The people seeking treatment would be focused on treating their disease not contributing to it.
The opposition switched tactics. Now, the opposition doesn't want the facility because they want to preserve the green space for recreational use. The trouble with this argument is that if they had truly wanted the area for recreational use, it would have been used for that already. The land has been unused for several years.
The independent Member of the Manitoba Legislature appears to be leading the opposition to this facility. He is trying to argue both sides of the issue. On one hand, he believes that the facility should be built but just not in his backyard. He has suggested another site, not in his riding, that would be better. On the other hand, he has also toured the facility in Calgary and sees many problems with the model so he doesn't see the value in such a facility here.
Whatever happens, we must acknowledge that addiction is a huge problem in our society. It is estimated that 1 out of 10 people suffer from addiction. It is further estimated that the addicted person significantly impacts the lives of 4 people. In the case of Bruce Oake, he had a loving mother, father, and brother, and a partner. So, in reality 1 out of every 2 people will have their lives impacted by addiction. No one is suggesting that the Bruce Oake recovery centre will solve all of the addiction problems, but it is a step in the right direction.
One can only hope that when the people opposing this facility have a struggle with addiction, that they have a treatment centre to help with this disease. They can only hope that a group of compassionate people will take a risk to help people in their backyard.
In my neighbourhood, a battle is occurring over a proposed addiction treatment centre. The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is one step away from City Council approval for the sale of land for $1.00. The building and land which is proposed has been out of use for several years.
The story of this proposed recovery centre is worthy of noting. Bruce Oake was a young man battling addiction. He went to treatment and was doing well, but, as often happens with addiction, he had a relapse and died of an overdose.
He was part of a loving family and as a testament to this, the family want a treatment center with hopes that it will prevent another family from experiencing a loss.
It is an incredible love story and requires the family to live their private pain publicly as they try to establish this legacy. They are exposing their lives to scrutiny from a judgmental public. They are not benefiting in any way other than trying to help the community. In fact, pursuing such a dream must be causing them great exhaustion.
They are proposing a 50 bed facility using a holistic approach to treating addiction. The website contains a wealth of information noting that for every $5 spend on treating addiction, that $95 is spent on incarceration. The proposed facility would be modeled after a facility in Calgary.
At first, opposition to the facility from the neighbourhood focused on fear. Fear of having people suffering from addiction in their neighbourhoods, fear of "these people" smuggling in drugs or burglarizing their possessions in order to sell them for drug money. These ignorant assumptions were quickly quieted. As a treatment facility, there would be less substances on hand than there would be at a 7-11. The people seeking treatment would be focused on treating their disease not contributing to it.
The opposition switched tactics. Now, the opposition doesn't want the facility because they want to preserve the green space for recreational use. The trouble with this argument is that if they had truly wanted the area for recreational use, it would have been used for that already. The land has been unused for several years.
The independent Member of the Manitoba Legislature appears to be leading the opposition to this facility. He is trying to argue both sides of the issue. On one hand, he believes that the facility should be built but just not in his backyard. He has suggested another site, not in his riding, that would be better. On the other hand, he has also toured the facility in Calgary and sees many problems with the model so he doesn't see the value in such a facility here.
Whatever happens, we must acknowledge that addiction is a huge problem in our society. It is estimated that 1 out of 10 people suffer from addiction. It is further estimated that the addicted person significantly impacts the lives of 4 people. In the case of Bruce Oake, he had a loving mother, father, and brother, and a partner. So, in reality 1 out of every 2 people will have their lives impacted by addiction. No one is suggesting that the Bruce Oake recovery centre will solve all of the addiction problems, but it is a step in the right direction.
One can only hope that when the people opposing this facility have a struggle with addiction, that they have a treatment centre to help with this disease. They can only hope that a group of compassionate people will take a risk to help people in their backyard.
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