The official opposition critic for mental health and addictions for B.C. is calling for increased supports in supportive housing, after a 60-year-old woman died of a drug overdose at a supportive housing facility in Surrey, and her body was not found for 11 days in 2023.
Diane Chandler died in her room at Foxglove Supportive Housing in Surrey in April 2023. The facility, which opened in 2022, features 130 units, comprising 66 supportive housing homes, 34 complex care beds, and 30 shelter beds.
At a press conference Wednesday (May 28) in the B.C. legislature in Victoria, Diane's son, Tyler Gibbs, spoke alongside the opposition critic for mental health and addictions, Skeena MLA Claire Ratt茅e, and the shadow minister for public safety and solicitor general, Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko.
Diane's son, Tyler Gibbs, said the government failed his mom.
"My mom deserved better," Gibbs said. "I know the condolences won't bring her back, but if something can change under this because of her, that would be something and something she would be happy about her legacy living on through that."
Diane's death was not only a tragedy but a failure, Ratt茅e said.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a failure of every safeguard that was supposed to protect her,乌鸦传媒� Ratt茅e said. 乌鸦传媒淭his government calls it supportive housing, but where was the support? Where was the oversight? Where was the care?乌鸦传媒�
"I understand that the excuse that's been given by the Housing Minister is that it's an issue around wellness checks and that they weren't performing wellness checks frequently enough, and that they mistook another person for Diane and that's why they thought that she was OK," Ratt茅e said. "But that excuse doesn't hold water, in my opinion, because where do you think the other woman was then, why did that woman end up dying a couple of days after this incident, and why was Tyler and his family not informed, and it took 11 days to find her body."
Ratt茅e said the issue is not around wellness checks but around "encouraging open drug use in supportive housing facilities and warehousing addiction."
She added that she and the Conservative Party of BC are not against supportive housing.
乌鸦传媒淲e want supportive housing that is actually supporting our most vulnerable people, not forgetting them, or simply warehousing them,乌鸦传媒� said Ratt茅e.
She said she has heard from individuals, many of whom are unhoused, who have told her they do not want to go into supportive housing because "there aren't any drug-free facilities and these buildings are absolutely encouraging open drug use. They're encouraging crime."
Diane had struggled with addiction before moving into Foxglove, but it was "not this severe," Ratt茅e said.
Gibbs said that when he and his sister went to pick up their mother's belongings, they witnessed open drug use throughout the building and found 14 crack pipes in their mother's room and syringe disposal containers in the hallways.
Ratt茅e said these actions are "encouraging people to get deeper into the throes of addiction, that's the issue."
Ratt茅e is also calling for all deaths in provincially funded and supported housing to be independently investigated and reviewed, and for drug-free supportive housing.
She wants to see the province do more and step up support for people with their addiction.
Sturko said the issue of open drug use stems from the provincial government's decriminalization of people who use drugs.
"I think that one of the problems that we have here in taxpayer-funded, so-called supportive housing is that there is rapid open drug use, and even if this government did make a statement that it would change its failed programs to make them sober, how will they be able to actually enforce that without changing the law with respect to decriminalization?"
Ratt茅e said what is needed is for the province to expand mental health treatment and recovery services. There also needs to be supportive housing facilities that are substance-free.
Ravi Kahlon, the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, said his heart goes out to Diane乌鸦传媒檚 family and that policies, procedures, and practices have changed or been implemented in response to Diane乌鸦传媒檚 death.
乌鸦传媒淢y heart continues to be with the family of this individual who lost their life. This a situation that should never be happening and is the result of a horrible mistake where the staff of the non-profit operator misidentified the individual," Kahlon said. "We know that wellness checks save lives. That乌鸦传媒檚 why we amended Provincial Residential Tenancy regulation (RTR) to allow for wellness checks if a tenant hasn乌鸦传媒檛 been seen for 48 hours. My ministry works closely with BC Housing and their operating partners to ensure appropriate health and safety measures are in place to protect the well-being of those they serve. We continue to look at ways to make supportive housing safe for the residents and staff.乌鸦传媒�
On September 4, 2024, BC Housing issued a notification to RainCity Housing, "outlining their obligation and strong direction" for them to report any critical incidents within 12 hours of their occurrence.
A spokesperson for the ministry said that, "in response to this incident, RainCity increased staff training around wellness check procedures, and now ensures that staff take measures to ensure certainty of a person乌鸦传媒檚 identity before marking a wellness check as complete."
"People who live in supportive housing make their own choices and, including the decision to abstain or use drugs/alcohol in the privacy of their homes and are encouraged to consider more healthy options."
"If people choose to use substances on site, BC Housing follows a harm-reduction approach. To help people who use substances, they need, first and foremost, a safe and secure place to sleep, food to eat, and access to services so that they can stabilize their lives and move forward," the spokesperson said.
"The 9810 Foxglove project in Surrey operates as supportive housing, which is subsidized housing that includes on-site support for single adults, seniors and people with disabilities experiencing or at risk of homelessness. These supports are in place to help people find and maintain stable independent housing and are not operated as a health-supported detox program."
There are also overdose prevention services onsite.
RainCity Housing had not responded to our questions by the time this story went to press. The story will be updated if they respond.
-With files from Tom Zytaruk and Mark Page
