ew” Abbotsford’s mental health and addictions resources sadly lacking By Shaylee Pérez, Staff Reporter he Advanced Issues 2410 class l uncovered a major problem in Abbotsford during a project studying harm reduction. The problem they discovered is a by-law in Abbotsford that effectively bans any sort of harm reduction programs for drug addiction. On April 1“, class members Stevie Pearson, Mel Cabral, Tanya Friesen, Forrest Rosenthal and Nadia Moshtaginejad, along with some citizens of Abbotsford, presented their findings about the by-law with a special question and answer period where attendees could speak to the citizens about their personal experiences and thoughts. Harm reduction is generally known as a compassionate minimization of the consequences associated with mental illness and drug abuse. It can be seen in programs such as Insite, which promotes safety for both users and citizens as it provides an alternative to shooting up on the street, with used needles that can transfer disease, and out of the plain view of children and other citizens. While Abbotsford has the same problems seen in Vancouver, such as many people suffering from addiction to drugs and mentally illness, the same programs are not available to help them. The zoning by-law in question prohibits any needle exchanges, mobile exchanges and safe injection sites. The fact is that the people who need help the most are stuck in between those laws which prevent effective help, those which solely purport abstinence and people like Barry Shantz, who does Tanya Friesen , Mel Cabral, Forrest Rosenthal, Barry Shantz, Nadia Moshtaginejad, Stevie Pearson, everything he can to set up support systems in his community. The students encountered Shantz during their field research and he gave them a tour of downtown Abbotsford where needles are visibly evident on the street. He also took them to the place he calls “top of the line,” the Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley’s “Warm Zone” where women are able to access showers, laundry facilities and information about other help available to them, while he shared with them his personal experiences in using harm reduction techniques. As of now, Shantz runs an unofficial needle exchange, using the few people he trusts to help him distribute clean needles to the community, and pick up the used ones. “Only an ignorant person would see harm reduction as a bad thing. Nobody is doing anything about the unnecessary human suffering happening before my very eyes,” said Shantz, who encountered these problems firsthand at the downtown Abbotsford building he manages, having to constantly clear the doorways of the homeless and drug- addicted. Barry then became interested in the problem and educated himself by reaching out to Vancouver institutions actively involved in helping combat the drug addiction, attending their meetings, then becoming acquainted with the what harm reduction is and what it consists of, where he learned of Insite. One of the biggest obstacles in Abbotsford are those as seen in the highly vocal NIMBY group, an acronym for “Not In My Back Yard;” advocates of abstinence and nothing in the way of treatment or services. “Mental health and drugs are not class- orientated problems, they can happen to anyone, and when it does happen, they fall to the lowest priority,” said Shantz. “I want to address, expose and make effective the very people who are getting paid to help and who are not.” He shared the case of Leah, a 25 year old he took in this winter after regularly finding her on his doorstep. Leah is mentally disabled and crack addicted. When he found her, her disability was unrecognized and she was not on government assistance. After many attempts to receive help from the available resources, Barry was finally able to set up a program that he hopes will protect her for the rest of her life. Leah is now on welfare, but before she may receive her assistance cheque, she must take her medication. Barry underwent many obstacles in the system while trying to set her up with resources from the community. In one case, Leah was unable to receive mental health services because she had declined the assistance in the past. “People in the public don’t know enough. The level of ignorance in Abbotsford is high, and religious passion doesn’t do the trick. To help, people need to have specialized training of which Vancouver has an abundance of, and Abbotsford is short on,” explained Shantz. On Monday April 6", Mental Health and Addictions will meet to discuss an upcoming public forum on this matter. As of now, the date is set for May 4", where they will present these issues to city hall and to the public. DSU election not without its drama The Douglas Students’ Union election is now over and while Vote For Change’s surge to power is the big news, there a few other stories worth noting. Matthew fn¥ Steinbach news editor Shaun Dhakar storms back to power Shaun Dhakar was first elected with Fresh Start in 2007 as a member- at-large along with Deep Singh. All other seats that year had been won by members of Rebuild, but they did not run a full slate, which is why Fresh Start gained two seats. He then ran with Revitalize next year for internal relations coordinator but lost to Alysia MacGrotty of Douglas Students’ United. She was only one of three members of the DSU slate to be elected leaving Dhakar one of the few from his not to be. He then ran again in the by-election last fall when Alysia MacGrotty suddenly stepped down. However, he again lost this time to Sandra Gwardys. In this most recent election he would not be denied the position, winning handily against incumbent Christine Nieder. Two candidates disqualified Before voting began last week, Deep Singh from Vote For Change was disqualified for entering the DSU building afterhours without a staff person present, violating the election’s rules. Then, Jerin Mece, also from Vote For Change, was disqualified from the election. However, Jessica Magalios, chief returning officer for the DSU election, was not willing to go into any detail on the disqualification, and Jerin Mece was not reached for comment either. Since at least 2004, no candidate has been disqualified from a DSU election. Only one incumbent re-elected Brandon Johannesson is the only representative from the current DSU Board of Directors to be re-elected in this election. There were four representatives from the current board running in the election, but all of them either lost or were disqualified during the election. The last time only one representative was re-elected was in the 2007 election after the DSU had just entered receivership. Ironically, this election was about who would take over post-receivership. Despite the fact that these representatives were finally close to ending it, they were not re- elected. Voter turnout remains low While an official estimate was not available by The Other Press deadline, this year’s voter turnout appears to have remained around 5 per cent. Before the DSU was sent into receivership, the elections used to garner about 10 per cent of the student population and about 800-900 votes. Since receivership has begun only about 500 students have voted in the last three general elections, which is between 5-7 per cent of students depending on enrollment numbers from year to year.