'Boooo': Dowler Place meeting draws ire as City of Victoria tries to quell concerns

It only took a few minutes for the jeers to start at a meeting on Tuesday night about a controversial support facility for unhoused people in Victoria.

Some 300 people packed a room downtown well beyond its capacity, eager to learn more about Dowler Place. SOLID Outreach Society runs the facility and describes it as a community centre where people can get referrals to housing and detox services.

“I didn’t leave here feeling like it’s going to be a safe neighbourhood for me, for the kids, for the disabled,” said Jennifer Loukras, who lives two doors down from the facility in the North Park neighbourhood.

“There’s just been no consultation. Nobody knows what the plans are and then (we) get told as we did tonight that the deal is done.”

Dowler Place has been a source of acrimony since it was announced by the city in June.

“Why don’t you resign?” someone shouted at Victoria mayor Marianne Alto during the public meeting.

Alto was asked repeatedly why the neighbourhood was not consulted.

“This is an essential service,” she said during a news conference on Wednesday. “These are health services that are not usually up for debate.”

City council did not want to wait for the provincial and federal governments to fill the gaps in support services, Alto added.

“I want to applaud my council for being courageous because this is unusual … but at least we’re making the effort and the effort is to make the community better,” she said.

Some of the people who asked questions during the meeting were heckled and booed, whether they were for or against Dowler Place.

“We need it. I know the neighbourhood says, ‘We don’t want it in our neighbourhood,’ but where are we going to put it? ” said Barbara Hudlin, who attended the information session.

Dozens of firefighters attended the meeting to show support for their colleague Josh Montgomery, centre, who was suspended after publicizing his concerns about Dowler Place. (CTV News)

Firefighters lined the walls of the meeting space, showing support for Josh Montgomery. The Victoria firefighter and North Park resident was suspended for one day in August, after sharing his concerns about Dowler Place in an open letter to the premier. Montgomery declined an interview.

The meeting lasted nearly two hours.

“I would have liked to hear more information about the actual operation of the facility, because we’ve heard lots of different things about drug use there (and) about the hours it’s going to operate,” North Park resident Matthew Macatee said.

What's actually happening on site?

SOLID staff tried to clear up the confusion around drug use at Dowler Place.

“Is it a place that (people) can sit down and use repetitiously? No. That’s what our overdose prevention sites are for,” SOLID’s executive director Jack Phillips said in an interview.

People will not, however, be banned from using drugs on site.

“When you say people can’t use drugs on a site, it doesn’t mean people don’t use them. It means they use them in the bathroom and they overdose and die,” SOLID’s senior director Mark Wilson told the crowd.

Referral services have already begun on an invite basis, Wilson said. Once renovations wrap in the next couple of months, services will expand to include support groups and overnight beds for up to 25 people who are waiting to get into treatment or housing.

“Say you come in and you want to go to detox, but you can’t get in for two weeks,” Phillips said. “What do we do in the meantime? Well, we shelter you in the meantime.”

'Chaos around what's happening'

SOLID said it will attend the North Park Neighbourhood Association’s monthly meetings, so people have more opportunities to ask questions.

“Through the summer, we saw what can happen when there isn’t enough communication. There’s just a lot of chaos around what’s happening,” Wilson said.