Council debates allowing alcohol in public places

Jun 11, 2020 | 7:03 AM

Vernon council is not taking any action at this point on an idea to allow liquor consumption in specific public places.

“I will move to defer this to later, ” said Coun. Scott Anderson who withdrew that motion, and made another one to receive the report for information.

“If we accept this report, there is nothing stopping us at a later date from bringing forward a new motion. Is that correct?”

“That is correct. It is just to receive the information,” said Patti Bridal, director of corporate services.

City staff said they would need to get RCMP and Interior Health input before they could give a recommendation.

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Coun. Kelly Fehr said this may be an idea to look at later, but not now.

He said the city needs to consider the “ramification and prejudices” associated with going down this road.

“It doesn’t seem very congruent to oppose an evidence-based overdose prevention site, or the location of an overdose prevention site, on one hand, and promote the utilization of the most harmful drug alcohol on the other hand, which has at least 17 consumption sites, bars, in Vernon,” said Fehr.

Fehr says it’s unfair to disregard the needs of people struggling with one substance use disorder while actively promoting another substance which he says causes far more deaths, and other problems, than opioids.

Penticton has approved a one month trial of allowing people to drink booze at parks and beaches along the Okanagan Lake waterfront until July 4 as a way to help businesses recover from he pandemic.

Coun. Dalvir Nahal said she is opposed to the idea, saying Vernon doesn’t have the infrastructure for it.

“We don’t have hotels by the beaches like they do in Penticton,” said Nahal who added the people who are going to drink are “already doing it in public places” and she doesn’t want to encourage more of it.

As part of the motion, city staff will come back with more information on the proposal from RCMP and Interior Health.

Coun. Anderson says it wouldn’t allow people to “run around with a beer bottle in their hand,” saying it would be site and time specific.

“Although I don’t frankly see the problem with that because there is a distinction between alcohol and illegal drugs; one is legal and one is not legal,” stated Anderson who said it doesn’t have anything to do with the overdose prevention site.

The motion to receive the report was carried in a 4-3 vote.

by Pete McIntyre

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