The municipal council does not make an official decision on whether or not to close the monitored consumption location

A decision on whether to close the Supervised Consumption Site (SCS) in Calgary’s Beltline is back in the hands of the Alberta government.

Council voted to replace a motion to advocate for the county to close the site with another motion to have the mayor write to the county asking them to make an informed decision about the site’s future. This last motion was subsequently rejected by a vote of 5-9.

The decision, which came after about an hour of debate, essentially means the City Council is not taking an official position on whether the SCS in the Beltline should be closed.

“We care about saving lives, we care about the community. All these things are important to us. This is not under our jurisdiction,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

“If (the province) feels that their processes can be improved, that they can do this differently – they can have comprehensive support, detox facilities – then we are happy to support that,” she said.

Calgary’s SCS opened exactly seven years ago, first as a temporary program at the Sheldon Chumir Centre.

While health care is entirely a provincial responsibility, Alberta’s addictions minister asked city councilors to make the decision.

“It is important that the entire City Council, and not just the mayor, weigh in through a vote on whether the City Council wants to see the Sheldon Chumir site closed,” reads a letter from Dan Williams to the mayor earlier this month.

“It is clear that Calgarians do not support new drug sites in the city, nor is it in the community’s best interest to support them,” the Addictions Secretary wrote.

Ward 8 councilor Courtney Walcott, who represents the area in which the SCS operates, said it should not be the council’s responsibility to come up with a plan for possible future locations.

“They are telling us to stay in our tracks all the time. I will respond with equal force: If they want to make health decisions, make them,” Walcott said.

“The Council is not in a position to make health decisions without the right information.”