{"id":217519,"date":"2025-09-11T06:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T06:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217519\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T06:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T06:40:26","slug":"calgary-mayoral-candidate-calls-for-end-of-downtown-supervised-consumption-site-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217519\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary mayoral candidate calls for end of downtown supervised consumption site – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Safety in Calgary\u2019s downtown core was front and centre on the campaign trail Wednesday as mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp said she\u2019d call on the province to close the supervised consumption site downtown, and to deconcentrate the city\u2019s largest homeless shelter.<\/p>\n

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Sharp, who represents Ward 1 on council and is running for mayor under the Communities First<\/a> party banner, made the announcement Wednesday morning at a barber shop across the street from the supervised consumption site at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening around here is simply not acceptable and something needs to change,\u201d Sharp said.<\/p>\n

Sharp said the city and province have been \u201cgoing around in circles\u201d on the issue for years, and if elected, she would formally ask Premier Danielle Smith and her government to close the SafeWorks supervised consumption site \u201cat their earliest possible convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While operations within the site are provincial jurisdiction, Sharp said public safety concerns in the surrounding area fall within the city\u2019s purview.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the amount of people we\u2019re moving down here,\u201d Sharp said. \u201cWe talk about wanting people to live, work and play in our downtown, you can\u2019t do that when you\u2019re afraid and you\u2019re not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four years ago, under former premier Jason Kenney\u2019s government, the\u00a0province said it would close the Safeworks supervised consumption site in the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre<\/a>\u00a0as part of a \u201ccity-by-city approach regarding the location of supervised consumption services.\u201d However, the site remains open.<\/p>\n

Last year, the province said it would close the site only if Calgary city council approved the move, a point Smith reiterated on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re getting to a point where we have enough of those wraparound supports that I think we can shut down the (Sheldon Chumir supervised consumption site),\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a city requests a safe consumption site to be shut down, we\u2019ll shut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said it\u2019s the province\u2019s responsibility to determine whether the site is shuttered, as it is a health care facility, and noted she has had conversations with several ministers about alternate plans and services to replace the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut nothing ever happens,\u201d Gondek said. \u201cIf you close the site without an alternative, all of those folks will be on the street and that is not the solution we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Calgary Drop-In Centre, Gondek said there have been discussions about de-centralizing its services.<\/p>\n

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