Some recovery home operators in Surrey are calling for stricter enforcement after a spike in violent crime in the city.
Standards in drug recovery houses have been part of the safety discussion in the wake of high-profile incidents, like the shocking murder of hockey mom Julie Paskall outside Newton Arena in December.
It was also revealed earlier that a Delta man accused of injuring six people in a violent rampage across Metro Vancouver this week was let out of a recovery house too early, according to the director of a drug and alcohol program he attended last year.
The suspect, Jonathan Leblanc, was staying at one of the roughly 150 unregulated houses in B.C.
A new government system introduced in 2013 is meant to make the recovery system safer, giving $30.90 to each house per client per day in exchange for things like fire safety measures, inspections and a complaints process.
Susan Saunderson, who runs the Realistic Success Recovery Society, said the money she gets from licensing the house means she can afford real treatment for tenants, but she thinks the B.C. government should be doing more.
“They need more staff so that they can come and do spot checks,” said Susan Saunderson, who operates the Realistic Success Recovery Society. “Not tell me that they’re coming, but come and do spot checks to make sure I really only have 12 people in this house.”
Some 55 recovery houses have registered for the new system, while 45 are still waiting to register. Surrey contains about 200 recovery houses overall.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jonathan Woodward
