Opinion: Enough is enough — It's time for Vancouver to push back on OPS decisions | Daily Hive

Opinion: Enough is enough — It's time for Vancouver to push back on overdose prevention site decisions

New OPS location at 900 Helmcken St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Yaletown resident Mike Wilson, Hospitality Vancouver Association representative Laura Ballance, and small business owner Elsa Corsi.

We come from different corners of Vancouver: a long-time resident who has been doing homeless outreach for over 10 years, representatives of the hospitality and business community, and a small jeweller who has poured her life into her shop.

What unites us is exhaustion, and a question we can no longer ignore: When will the people who live and work here be heard?

When the BC NDP-led government shifted drug policies in 2017 after coming into power, it then poured gasoline on the fire by moving people with addiction and mental illness into SROs on Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver, and the situation deteriorated rapidly. They poured more gasoline on the fire by bringing in an overdose prevention site (OPS) at the southwest corner of the intersection of Seymour and Helmcken streets.

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Mike saw firsthand the increasing crime and disorder, brazen drug dealing, and even human trafficking. It was clear this was not helping the very people it was supposed to help, and it was destroying the surrounding neighbourhood.

It became unsafe to do the most basic things: to go to the NICU at St. Paul’s Hospital to see his son, to walk to Nestor’s Market, or to have his wife and mother-in-law out at night. As a Yaletown resident, Mike ultimately filed a class action against the first Seymour/Helmcken OPS (the “Yaletown OPS”).

Eventually, the first overdose prevention site moved. The second OPS just off Granville Street, which was also creating serious issues, was shut down. For the first time in years, there was a breath of fresh air.

Now, with no meaningful consultation and in clear breach of the duty to consult that the provincial government promised in the settlement agreement, Mike is left standing here next to his neighbours, who cannot believe what is going on, simply saying: enough is enough.

900 helmcken street vancouver coastal health ops

New OPS location at 900 Helmcken St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Elsa’s story is Vancouver’s story

For years, Elsa and her mother have lived and worked side by side in this neighbourhood, running their small business while quietly adapting to the changing conditions on the street outside their door.

Over time, they shortened business hours, kept the doors locked to walk-in customers, and watched as regular patrons became increasingly uncomfortable visiting the area.

Like many small business owners and residents nearby, they have tried to accommodate the climate around them, while absorbing the steady erosion of safety, stability, and community trust. As Elsa put it, “As a woman, you learn to stay alert all the time here, but you should not have to accept fear as part of your daily routine just to run a business and live in your own community.”

Not satisfied with the provincial government’s claims that meaningful community consultation had taken place, Elsa undertook her own neighbourhood impact research, speaking directly with residents, workers, and nearby businesses about the realities they continue to face every day.

“One woman was robbed and assaulted in her workplace. Another mother says drug smoke was blown into her infant’s face. Others fear retaliation, confrontation, or simply being dismissed for speaking honestly about what daily life in this corridor has become.”

What many people may not realize is that this location has effectively already been tested.

A drug trailer previously operated in the adjacent parking lot, but was ultimately removed due to ongoing disorder and community concerns. There was also a previous site at 1160 Howe St. that only recently closed, with neighbours reporting problems were still amplified during its lease, which was not renewed by the landlord.

For nearby residents and businesses, this history raises serious questions about why the same location is once again being considered without clear evidence that past problems have been resolved.

New OPS location at 900 Helmcken St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Small businesses at the breaking point

Laura works every day with hotel operators, restaurateurs, tourism leaders and shopkeepers along Granville Street.

These are not faceless corporations.

They are families, entrepreneurs, and workers who have chosen to invest in Vancouver’s downtown core.

Since the proliferation of provincially operated SROs and harm-reduction sites under successive governments, they have endured:

Relentless property crime and theft
Floods and fires originating from neighbouring buildings
Staff who no longer feel safe walking to work
Customers who have simply stopped coming

Many of these businesses are at their financial and emotional limit.

They are not asking for vulnerable people to be ignored. They are asking for balance and for someone, anyone, in government to sit down and listen before making decisions that will reshape their livelihoods.

The contradiction is becoming impossible to ignore. The provincial government has stated its ambition to double tourism revenue to $48 billion by 2036, positioning Vancouver as a world-class destination for conventions, hospitality, entertainment, and international visitors.

Yet at the same time, it is moving forward with plans to place another OPS at 900 Helmcken St. — directly beside one of Vancouver’s largest hotels and in the heart of the city’s entertainment and tourism district.

What message does that send to visitors, conference organizers, investors, and the thousands of hospitality workers whose livelihoods depend on a safe and vibrant downtown?

Perspective from the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel’s courtyard; new OPS location at 900 Helmcken St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

New OPS location at 900 Helmcken St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Enough is enough

Thousands of residents and business owners have signed petitions. Every major business improvement association in the Downtown Vancouver peninsula has joined the call. The message is unified and unambiguous:

This approach is not working.
This is not compassion, not for the vulnerable, and not for the communities absorbing the fallout.
We are not being consulted, and we refuse to be silent any longer.

We are not opposed to helping people in crisis. We are opposed to policies imposed from above with no accountability, no community input, and no honest reckoning with the consequences.

Vancouver deserves better. We are standing up. Please sign our online petition.

What do you think? Do you have a response or rebuttal? Are you interested in submitting an op-ed? We invite readers to reach out to us at opinion@dailyhive.com for op-ed publication consideration.

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