Residents filled Frank West Hall and lined up out the door at the Elphinstone Electors' Community Association meeting June 10 to air their anger and concerns over the VisionQuest transition house now open on Pratt Road.
Association president Vel Anderson invited Gibsons' resident retired Staff Sgt. Ed Hill to speak on behalf of the VisionQuest Society.
"There's a lot of rumour, innuendo, lies and exaggeration going around the community," Hill said near the opening of his presentation. "I'm here to tell you about VisionQuest so maybe we can take away some of the rumours, the lies and the exaggerations."
Residents were irked that Hill, though a founder of VisionQuest and a representative of the Society, was not a member of its board or involved with day-to-day operations, yet was the chosen presenter.
Hill said he sympathized with attendees' concerns and promised he would invite a delegation including Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) director for Elphinstone, Lorne Lewis, and three members of the community to tour the house and meet the staff.
There seemed to be some confusion about the difference between a transition house and a recovery house like the ones VisionQuest operates in Surrey and Langley and proposed to open in Sechelt.
Hill explained that before coming to a transition house, residents have spent several months, a year or longer in recovery houses where they live with total abstinence from drugs and alcohol, relearning how to live without them.
"This is not a recovery house. The hard work is being done in the Lower Mainland for your people. This transition house is, for the most part, to transition your community back into your community. There will be some people here from other communities. Lots of communities took your people. It's our turn," Hill said.
He added that the move from recovery to transition must be ordered by staff psychologists only when they feel a resident is ready.
One of the biggest points of contention for the local residents was the lack of advanced warning.
Hill argued that VisionQuest had done its due diligence and allowed Coast residents to get to know them during the public consultation that was done in Sechelt. He reiterated that since the house was already zoned for transition housing, there was no legal imperative to inform the public and, more importantly, stressed that recovering addicts are afforded a right to privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The crowd seemed largely dissatisfied with Hill's answers.
Michael Maxwell, director of health and social development for the Sechelt Indian Band, spoke out saying he disagrees with VisionQuest's treatment practices.
"It's a recipe for disaster," he said. "You're zero for six with clients who have gone from the Band," he said. "The experts in addiction on the Coast don't support VisionQuest, and still, it's going through."
He added he also does not trust the information that comes from the society or its executive director Jim O'Rourke.
Other residents listed concerns about declining property values, children's safety and bylaw compliance with the SCRD.
Mark McMullen, a planner for the SCRD working on the file, said the zoning does allow for transition housing and has been that way for nearly 25 years. He said there have been no active permits taken out on the house for work that may be done there.
McMullen's full report was expected to be presented at the SCRD planning and development committee Thursday, June 11.
