'Fear of something new': Councillor, St. James residents meet to discuss proposed addiction centre

A meeting between residents in St. James and their city councillor to discuss the proposal to build an addictions centre at the site of an old arena was cut short Saturday after the discussion became heated.

As St. Charles Coun. Shawn Dobson spoke to a room of about 200 people Saturday afternoon, residents began shouting out both in support and in opposition to the project.

Developers are proposing to build the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre on site of the old Vimy Arena. It's an area surrounded by the Sturgeon Creek Greenway Trail, condos, houses and schools.

The 50-bed centre would offer a long-term treatment option for men suffering from addiction, an option backers say Winnipeg severely lacks. 

It's named after 25-year-old Bruce Oake, who died of a heroin overdose in 2011.

Bruce's father, veteran sportscaster Scott Oake, and mother, Anne Oake, have been working for years to build a recovery centre in his memory. They say a long-term option is needed because it can take months, sometimes years, for brains to recover from the effects of opioid abuse.

Dobson supports the idea of building a treatment centre but is adamant the Vimy Arena site is the wrong choice. He argues the centre should be built far away from any residential neighbourhood in the city.

Many applauded him at Saturday's meeting while others in the crowd questioned his expertise on drug abuse recovery.

Dobson said at one point the meeting was not an "open forum" and ended the meeting early, even as residents, hands in the air, waited for a turn to speak.

Victoria De Silva, a local resident who did speak Saturday, questioned what evidence the councillor has for opposing a treatment centre nestled in a quiet residential neighbourhood.

"I think there's a lot of misinformation and fear. I think they're thinking it's going to bring drug dealers into the area when we know they're already here," said De Silva.

"It's just fear of something new."

'These men become part of the community'

Vicki Fedak, who has lived in the St. James area for 45 years, said she almost "fell through the floor" when she learned an addictions centre might be built in her community.

"Anything like that belongs in a different location," she said. 

Marnie Scott helped organize a petition against the centre. She said property values in the area will fall if the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre goes ahead.

But access to nature and the close proximity to a tight knit neighbourhood are draws for the centre, said Anne Oake, because reintegrating back into society helps with recovery.

"The reason we love that land is because it has green space and the community feel," she said. She and her husband say they were not invited to speak at Dobson's meeting.

At Calgary's Simon House Recovery Centre, the facility on which the couple hope to model their centre, residents often get part-time jobs in the surrounding areas after completing their programs, Oake said.

"These men become part of the community. They help with the shovelling … they cut people's lawns."

A backroom deal?

Coun. Dobson said the mayor and province are working in cahoots to develop the site without consulting with residents first. He calls it a "backroom deal."

"I was totally shocked when it became apparent that the mayor and administration have been working on this for many months," he wrote in a letter to residents, which was sent to CBC on Friday.

City councillors will be hearing from Anne and Scott Oake Tuesday about why they want to build their centre in St. James. If all goes according to the couple's plan, council will vote in December on whether to transfer the land to the province. The Manitoba government would then transfer it to the Bruce Oake Memorial Foundation for development of the treatment centre.

Anne Oake describes Dobson's rhetoric as a "pre-emptive strike," given that the city still owns the Vimy Arena land.

According to Oake, residents would have an opportunity to voice their opposition to the location during rezoning hearings, which would take place before shovels hit the ground but after the land transfer is initially approved.

The final sale depends on the rezoning being successful. That requires a two-thirds vote by council, a city spokesperson said.

This week Dobson called on St. James residents to attend city council Wednesday and put pressure on the mayor to allow people to speak on the Bruce Oake proposal before the transfer goes to a vote.

"Once they approve the land transfer deal it's done. At that point we will not have any say," he said.

He is also asking residents to phone MLAs and city councillors to tell them to put a stop to the plan before it proceeds any further.

"So they can see that there is a huge concern," he said.

The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre describes itself as a non-profit facility that plans to treat hundreds of patients a year. The facility will be run in co-operation with the Calgary charity Fresh Start, which provides addiction treatment for men.